Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
by Negolith
Summary: Sequel to The Claws That Catch, wherein Sheppard meets the new Guardian and learns that even though some things are hard wired, appearances only go skin deep some of the time .... 2 in the Guardian Series.
1. I: Have A Cigar

_A/N: Like the waistband on a cheap pair of underwear, this thing just kept growing, and growing ... I'm still 3 chapters from the end but I think it's pretty safe to post the first chapter now - I'm pretty sure I caught any continuity problems. So, enjoy, and please - FEEDBACK! _

**Whiskey Tango Foxtrot**

**I: Have A Cigar**

I was actually getting to enjoy one of my rare days off – nothing was threatening to wipe us off the face of the universe and the other teams were all on peaceful trading missions that didn't need my supervision – and me and one of the off-duty marines and the new chemist were out enjoying some waves off the mainland. I was riding the crest of a particularly sweet breaker when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I glanced out to sea and saw a Jumper coming in fairly low and weaving slightly from side to side.

_Oh crap_. After I came up for air, I decided to take my own sweet time getting back to shore. I paddled back out, waited for a few waves to pass, and by the time I finally headed back in I could see Rodney standing just outside the surf line waving his arms, trying to get my attention. I hit the sand, tucked my short board under an arm, and sauntered up the beach. "This better be a life or death emergency," I said as I planted my board and picked up a gallon jug of fresh water that was sitting in the open back of the Jumper we came in.

"Well, if you had been wearing a radio like you're supposed to, then I wouldn't have had to drop what I was doing and fly all the way out here like a common messenger boy to fetch your scrawny ass," Rodney said.

I glanced down at my wetsuit. "Radio. Yeah, right," I drawled as I poured the jug out over my head. "You come out here for a reason, or was everyone back on Atlantis in hiding?"

"Carson called in from G8R-040. He wants us, as in you and me, to come 'at our earliest convenience', and by that I'm pretty sure in Carson speak means to drop what we're doing and haul our butts over right away." Rodney danced impatiently from foot to foot and, yeah, he was supplying air quotes as he ranted. "I told him you were out here and that I hadn't even begun to map half the new systems the Ancients reactivated during their brief stay, but no – he insisted we come and it was in our best interest. No explanations, no hints – just 'our best interests'. Now what in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

As I capped the empty jug I felt my guts twist up into a knot. G8R-040, Nixta's world. It had been damn near six months since we were there, and I was still having dreams about it. Some of them I'd wake up so pissed I pretty much stayed awake the rest of the night. For others I'd wake up in a cold sweat with the sound of her scream in my head. Then there were the ones where I'd need a cold shower…. Needless to say, I was still pretty much fucked up in my head over that whole mess and regardless of Teyla's offer, it was probably going to stay that way for awhile longer. "How did he sound when he called in?" I sat the jug down and picked my towel up off my duffle.

"I don't know, like Carson," Rodney said and raised his hands. "Slightly constipated and full of quaint little Scottish colloquialisms."

Well, if it wasn't important he wouldn't have called us, and a little part of me was panicking that he wouldn't say why. "Well, we better go find out what he wants." I whistled for Carpenter to come in, and when the big Marine came ashore I said, "Sergeant, the car is yours. Make sure you have it home by curfew."

"Yes, sir," he said and gave a pitiful excuse for a salute. Jeez – wetsuits just don't get the respect the uniform does. I grabbed my stuff and before I was in the other Jumper he was back out on the water. I couldn't hold back a wistful sigh as the hatch closed. Rodney was already in the pilot's seat. Hell no - that wouldn't do. I got up right behind him and dripped water down his neck. The flinch was worth it. "Oh, no you don't," I said and hooked a thumb at the other seat.

"Hey, I flew out here fine."

"Yeah, well I saw that drunken weaving you call flying. Move." He did, but only after I shook my head and splattered more water on him.

oOo

As I left my quarters, I tried to remember who was with Carson at the moment. Let's see – Teyla was there to interpret, Dr. Brown, Lorne and a couple Marines, a couple med techs to help Carson gather blood samples, oh, and Zelenka. The Czech was dying to check out that null field around the Temple, see if any of the systems could be adapted for Atlantis. Rodney probably should have gone, but the Ancients and the Replicators pissed him off messing with _his_ city and he didn't even bat an eye when Radek volunteered.

Rodney was waiting for me in front of the 'Gate, rocking impatiently from heel to toe. "Took your own sweet time, I see," he said as he waved for the tech to dial up the address.

"That was the intention," I said with a grin as I put on my sunglasses. We were both fully geared up and I wish I had a pair of shorts to wear - I remember how hot it was the last time. So did Rodney – he was actually wearing a short sleeved shirt this time around. Of course he had so much sun screen and bug spray on him my eyes were actually starting to water. I took a step away from him as the 'Gate whooshed to life. I forget who it was that referred to stepping through the 'Gate as the Big Flush, but ever since I heard that, the sight of the liquid crystal matrix in the ring always made me think of a galactic toilet bowl. And considering some of the places we've visited … eh, enough said. I tapped my earpiece. "Hey, Major, you up to giving a couple of hitchhikers a ride?"

"Be there in two shakes, Colonel," Lorne replied.

"Sweet." I glanced at Rodney after I killed the connection. "Does Elizabeth know what Carson wants?"

Rodney shook his head. "I asked. It's as much a mystery to her," he replied as we stepped forward.

"Huh," I grunted and took in a last cool breath before we stepped across the event horizon. There was the momentary dizzying, lurching sensation then my next step was on stone. I was expecting knock your breath out heat, so the temp in the, oh, low-eighties was a surprise. So was the rain. It wasn't coming down hard, yet, but one glance at the sky showed heavy black clouds and a wall of gray off in the distance that promised one helluva downpour once it hit.

"Oh, crap," Rodney said as the 'Gate closed. "They could have warned us it was monsoon season." He was flinching with every drop that hit and hugging his computer to his chest to protect it, even though it was already in a waterproof sleeve.

I just shook my head. I looked in the direction I knew the village lay and saw a Jumper rise gracefully up out of the canopy and shoot towards us. Lorne had the rear hatch open before he even landed on the top of the pyramid – yeah, the thing was _that_ big – and we hustled in out of the rain.

"Good timing, Major," I said as I plopped down in the co-pilot's seat. The wall of rain was pummeling the Jumper now. Rodney was setting down behind me and grumbling the whole time under his breath. I pulled my sunglasses off and put them in my vest since I obviously didn't need them.

"Thank you, Sir." Lorne glanced at me, then just as quickly looked away, his mouth twitching. "These storms have been coming in three, four times a day," he said as he brought the Jumper up and around. "Pours like crazy for ten minutes, stops for awhile, drizzles, then dumps again. Keeps the temp down, though humidity, not so much." Then he glanced at me again and this time I saw the grin before he clamped down on it.

"Is something amusing, Major?"

Lorne coughed. "An, no. Sir." Then he fixed his attention so forcefully forward you'd have thought he was chasing down a Wraith dart and not just flying over treetops. But I could still see his reflection in the windscreen, and I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like his cheeks were … twitching.

"So, do _you_ know what Carson called us here for?" I asked. I narrowed my eyes as Lorne actually choked. God damned _choked_. Mister Straight Face himself.

"Um, I do, Sir, but, ah, the doctor asked me to let him explain it." Then he concentrated on maneuvering the Jumper down through the canopy and landing it outside of the village. "And he asked me to take you straight to him the second you arrived."

"'At our earliest convenience'," Rodney said and grimaced. "Put him in charge of a team and he thinks he's Weir."

"What is going on, Major?" I said in my calmest voice. I knew that tone could get the most hardcore Marine to snap to attention. All it did was make Lorne twitch as he got up out of his seat. "I am your CO - do I have to order you to tell me?"

Lorne twitched even more. "But, but the doc has really big needles," he said. "And catheters."

I think we all cringed at that.

"And he made me promise. You … you just have to see it for yourself, sir." Then he shot out of the Jumper before I could say anything else.

Rodney and I looked at each other. "Why do I have a very bad feeling about this?" Rodney said.

The rain was still coming down pretty damn hard, especially in the gaps between trees. We ran in a half crouch to the village gate – which I was surprised to see was now surrounded by stone instead of wooden palisade - and waited there a few minutes for the deluge to let up. I tried to get Lorne to fess up, but even after threat of scrubbing the halls with a toothbrush for the rest of his stay on Atlantis all he would say was 'the doc will explain'. The second the rain started to ease up he took off towards the Temple in the center of the village at a pretty fast walk. We followed and I felt myself getting more and more pissed with every step.

The path through the village had been stomped into a consistency of concrete from years of bare feet traveling up and down it. Mud was minimal – but not the way Rodney was complaining – and we could see the villagers waving at us from their huts as they waited out the drizzle. The children didn't seem to mind and they came out in droves to greet us. They were clearly disappointed Ronon wasn't there to play tag with, but they soon discovered the delight of terrorizing Rodney. Instead of growling at them, Rodney would flinch, no doubt imagining the billions of germs that were covering all those naked little grubby bodies. By the time we got to the center and the Temple there were a dozen muddy hand prints on Rodney's pants, all about knee and thigh level, and he was starting to growl at them much to their delight. I had a pretty big grin on my face by the time we hit the flagstones around the place.

Then the Ancient field lab, or the Temple of Life as the locals called it, was right before us and my smile died instantly. For a second I expected a tall, graceful figure to come out of the archway at the top of the stairs leading up into the place, and my heart did do a lurch when someone stepped out of the interior. But it was one of Lorne's men and I mentally smacked myself as I took a deep breath. I glanced over at Rodney and saw his face set, his lips drawn into a tight grimace. Yeah, he was probably still just as fucked up about the whole thing as I was.

Lorne didn't waste any time and headed right on up the steps. Just like before, my ATA gene triggered the lighted designs as we followed him. As we passed through the archway the two Marines standing guard there gave me the weirdest looks before they snapped to attention. I frowned and I swear you could hear the tendons in their backs creak as they stood even straighter. _What the hell?_ I thought as I noticed that they, too, had that same tight twitchy expression on their faces that Lorne had in the Jumper.

The place hadn't changed – the fountain was still splashing away in the center of the atrium and there were plants everywhere. The temperature inside was about the same as outside this time so the urge to jump in the fountain wasn't too strong. As we rounded the right side of the huge thing we could hear voices, and as we cleared the tumbling water I stopped dead in my tracks. Rodney ran into me, but his sure to be snide comment died with a single sputter. I was dimly aware of Lorne just stepping to the side, touching his ear, and speaking softly.

The first thing I saw was Teyla sitting on the lip of the fountain, a big flat basket full of plant clippings on her lap. She had this, well, shell shocked expression on her face as she sat there, and when she noticed us all that changed was her eyebrows went up fraction.

Katie Brown, the little redheaded botanist Rodney had the hots for, had her attention fixed on a bizarre looking spiky fruit that was hanging from a creeping vine on the underside of the balcony a good dozen feet above her head. "Can you reach that?" she said to the villager standing next to her who was also looking up at the fruit.

_What the fuck?_ And to be honest, I wasn't sure if I thought that, or said it out loud.

His skin was tanned to a color a little lighter than Teyla's, and he was wearing a loincloth that was nothing more than a long strip of cloth held in place by a very familiar belt made of gold and jade beads. He had a lanky runner's build but his shoulders were more developed, and he was easily as tall as me. His black hair was cut a lot shorter than all the locals, and as far as I could tell he didn't have one single bit of body hair. And trust me, from what little he was wearing, it was easy to tell.

And the most disturbing part of the whole thing was he looked just like I did about fifteen years ago.

"Oh. My. God," Rodney whispered. "He even has your … perpetually surprised hair."

I was completely speechless as I watched my … clone? ... simply wrap his hands around Katie's waist and effortlessly lift her up so she could reach the fruit. She let out a startled gasp, which turned into a giggle, and blushed. "Oh, wow – you're strong," she said before she easily reached up and snipped the fruit's stem.

Rodney dropped his computer and it hit the floor, flat, with a loud _whap_.

_Huh, I wonder if this is what an out of body experience feels like?_ I thought absently as a still giggling Katie was lowered to the floor. I heard the lift doors open down the hall somewhere off to my right as she noticed us standing there for the first time. His expression didn't change at all, but hers lit up like we were long lost friends she hadn't seen in years. "Colonel! Rodney! You made it!" She made it sound cheerful, but her eyes were showing a little too much white. "Um, have you met Nixta yet?"

"Can't say that we have," Rodney muttered softly.

The new Guardian came over to us, stopped about three feet away and cocked his head faintly. This close I could see his eyes were that same antique green/gold of his predecessor's, and so help me God if he sniffs me I'm going to deck him. I cleared my throat. "I, uh … I don't think I can call you by that name."

His eyebrows rose and when they settled his whole hairline moved. _Oh man, like I haven't seen that little thing happen, like, a million times in the mirror_. He cocked his head faintly in the other direction and said, "That is fine. You can call me … Shadow." The voice was maybe a little deeper, but … _holy shit_. I could feel little beads of sweat break out on my forehead. Then he offered a very faint friendly smile that only tugged up one corner of his mouth. _Yup, that's familiar, too._

"Oh dear God," Rodney breathed. "That is just … just so disturbing on so many levels," he finished in a rush.

Somewhere off to my left I heard someone choke – if it was Lorne he was never, _ever_ going to be able to unclench his hand from all the scrubbing he was going to be doing until the end of his tour. Before I could look, something distracted Shadow and he glanced past me. I turned and saw Kintu trotting up to us. The little guy hadn't changed at all - still tattooed, still had that bone thingy in his nose. He gave me a broad happy smile and nodded. I numbly nodded back. Then Kintu said something to Shadow. Shadow frowned, nodded once and said, "If you will excuse me – I am needed in the village." Then they both took off in a jog. Well, Kintu in a jog, Shadow in a leisurely lope, his long legs easily keeping up with the pygmy's stride.

A stunned silence settled over all of us as we watched the two disappear around the fountain. Then Carson's voice filled the void. "Congratulations, Colonel – it's a boy."

I turned and faced him, and let me tell you – the look of utter disappointment he had directed at me right then stung. A lot. Zelenka was standing next to him with his hand clamped down so hard over his mouth that one side of his glasses was off his nose and sitting on his cheek. Ah, so _he_ was the one who made the noise. I narrowed my eyes at him.

Zelenka recovered enough composure, however, to pull off his glasses and begin cleaning them. "We've been here, maybe, a day at most. All we see are half naked little pygmies running around like Discovery Channel special – all that's missing is narrator. Imagine our surprise this morning when hunting party returns from jungle and _he_ is with them."

"Yeah, well, bet you weren't half as surprised as I am right now," I said under my breath. Zelenka kind of choked again, then cleared his throat as he carefully put his glasses back on.

Carson just _hmfed_ and crossed his arms. "Is there something ya neglected to tell us about your last visit?"

"Huh? What … I … wait! He's … not … no!" I gestured back the way Shadow just disappeared. "Don't you think he's a little, um, _big_ to be … uh, that?" The room seemed way too bright and I needed to sit down. I plunked down hard next to Teyla.

She lifted a hand, palm up, and it took a second for her words to form. "The resemblance is … uncanny." Katie was standing next to her, nodding in agreement.

I had to lean forward and put my head between my knees.

The entire time this was going on Rodney had been standing there slightly hunched, his hands up by his chest and his fingers twitching spasmodically. He suddenly looked down at his computer on the floor, went _huh _like he was surprised to see it there, and picked it up. Then with the thing clutched tightly to his chest he sat down heavily next to me. I had just brought my head up, pretty sure I was no longer going to pass out or puke, when he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "Uh, you don't suppose there's a nearly naked version of, you know …." He grimaced and mouthed, _me?_ "Running around?" he finished.

"Oh, God, I hope not," I groaned and had to put my head between my knees again.

"Hey, you didn't need to answer like that!"

"McKay," I said from my position with my head down and my arms on my knees. I sat up, and as I took in all the freaked out and amused expressions I ran my hand across my lips. "Carson, we need to have a talk. And _without_ the peanut gallery."

oOo

We were in one of the small med labs several levels down, and Carson was leaning against the exam table, his arms crossed and his mouth clenched between his thumb and first finger as he thought. Rodney and I had both fessed up to our midnight, ah, 'fondling' during our first visit and Carson had yet to say anything. I stood there with my hands on my hips, my lips drawn in, and Rodney was still hugging his computer but chewing on one fingernail. I think we both felt like teenagers who were caught in the bathroom with a titty magazine, and for me the embarrassment was interspersed with short hot stabs of anger.

Finally Carson pulled his hand away from his mouth. "Well, you cannae clone from just a sperm sample alone," he said. "Did you happen tae notice any needles marks or any such thing?"

"Not that I noticed - just the scratch on the neck," Rodney replied.

"Where the paralytic agent was administered," Carson said as he looked at me.

I nodded. "That gash on my hip was still seeping when I went to bed," I said with a shrug. "The bandage was gone when I got up."

"Aye, blood sample – that would work." Carson frowned. "We searched this building, top to bottom, when we arrived, and we dinnae find any facility that could support the rapid growth of a clone."

"So he is a clone?" I asked and felt my pulse jump up a notch.

"The resemblance is too … close tae be anything but," Carson replied.

Rodney snapped his fingers. "There must be a hidden lab," he said. He pulled his computer out and hesitantly turned it on. He gave a happy little _huh_ when the display popped up and he set about directly interfacing it with the controls to the medical scanner so he could access the system. He'd had so much practice with this kind of thing over the last few years it didn't take him long at all before he was pulling up data.

While he was doing that I went over by Carson. "So, he wasn't here when you arrived?" I said quietly. I didn't think I needed to clarify the _he_ I was talking about.

Carson shook his head. "That wee fellow with the bone in his nose and another with half an arm met us at the gate. Teyla explained why we were here, and they let us stay in the Temple until the 'Guardian' returned. Some of the systems were locked down until he reactivated them, but enough were up we could do what we came here for." He dropped his voice even more. "So, do you think he can … change, too?" We had included that detail about Nixta in the reports and Carson sounded a little excited.

"Probably," I replied. _If he was the new Guardian, most likely_, I thought. I remembered what Nixta was like when she changed in the jungle – the fur rising up from her skin, the legs reforming into something that could handle both upright and four-legged walking, the _claws_ – and it sent my freak-out meter up into the red zone.

"I wonder if he would be keen to a full work-up," Carson said off-handedly.

I shrugged as I watched Rodney scroll through schematics of the facility. I noticed he was starting to grimace more and more as his eyes darted over the images. "Did you find something?" I asked.

His eyes remained focused on the screen. "I've been thinking," he said.

_Oh, jeez – we're in trouble now._

"Why would she clone you?"

I wasn't sure, but I think I heard Carson snort out a little puff of air.

"I mean, why you?" His hand came up and fluttered by his head. "I, I, I just can't understand why she would willingly pass up the opportunity to infuse the next Guardian with, with genius. Imagine what _that_ little detail could have done for her people. But no - instead she goes and clones the flyboy with the Kirk Complex and the cowlick from hell. What was she thinking?"

You know, most of Rodney's rants I ignore, but this one was starting to hit below the belt.

"Actually, now that _I_ think about it, she probably _wasn't_ thinking. She was probably blinded by the light of all the pretty little Ancient decorations you were activating with your gene. And if she was only interested in you _because_ of your gene, then I'm pretty sure she could have figured out a way to bioengineer that to the clone. After all, I was given the ATA gene, and Carson figured _that_ one out all by himself."

I glanced at Carson and saw the Scot's mouth open. "Yeah, but why have a copy when you can have the original?" I said as I cut him off. "Besides, you saw what he was wearing, and I seriously doubt they have sunscreen here."

Rodney dismissed that with a rude little wave. "But if this facility can produce a complete adult clone in …." He shrugged. "Then a copy wouldn't propose too much of a – oh, hey, I found something," he said and straightened up from his crouch over the computer.

There are times the man reminds me of a Chihuahua on crack.

Carson and I glanced at each other and sighed. "What did you find?" I prompted or else he'd probably just stand there and go _huh_ and keep going through data.

"Here's something just off the control room," he said and picked up the computer. We crowded around and looked over his shoulder as he tried to call up any descriptions or designations. "There is absolutely nothing in the database to say what that is. And I don't recall seeing a door down there." His words trailed off as he scrolled through more data.

I backed away. "We should go check it out."

"Definitely," Rodney said as he disconnected the leads.

oOo

Thirty seconds later the three of us were in the lift riding down to the lower most level. Just before the door opened Rodney, who'd had his nose pretty much glued to his computer, made a strangled noise. "Oh, no. No, no no no. The ZedPM – it's been depleted nearly six per cent." He lifted his head and his expression was pained. "It was at sixty-two. What have they been doing to my ZedPM?"

"I thought we went over this already," I said as I pushed him out of the lift. "It's not yours. And quit your whining – the Replicators left us a fully charged one."

"Details," Rodney replied with a twitchy shrug.

Zelenka was back in the control room when the three of us came barreling in. His eyebrows shot up as we blew past him and stopped in front of the wall opposite the door. "What is going on?" he asked as he looked up from the console he was working at.

"There's another room behind this," Rodney said as he began running his hand along the apparently seamless wall. "Carson, check over there. Sheppard, see if you can, I don't know, maybe _think_ it open. It should be right in this area."

I put my hand on the wall and concentrated on different combos – open, open sesame, unlock, slide, iris open. Hell, I even imagined that funny little noise all the doors on Star Trek made when they opened. It wasn't until I pictured a cycling airlock that something happened. A section of wall about five feet wide popped out an inch and the unmistakable sound of air hissing through a small space filled the room. Then it slid down into the floor and lights came on.

Rodney and I were first into the room, shortly followed by Carson and Zelenka. It was maybe fifteen feet wide, thirty feet deep, and all done in slick enameled white. The entire back wall was nothing but a bank of Ancient equipment that had absolutely no meaning to me, and attached to that was what looked like a stasis pod with dozens of tubes and wires coming out of it.

"Oh my God – there it is," Rodney breathed. I looked up and sure enough, smack dab in the middle of the equipment was the unmistakable end of a ZPM. It was dark at the moment and Rodney was heading for it just like a shark towards chum. I cleared my throat, and when he sheepishly glanced back at me I shook my head. "I was just going to, ah, inspect the, um … oh, who in the hell am I fooling."

"They really should make a twelve-step program for that addiction you got there," I drawled. "Hey, I should bring that up to Heightmeyer."

"Asshole," Rodney muttered. But pretty soon he and Zelenka were _ooh-ing_ and _ah-ing_ over the system – or should I say _huh-ing_ and muttering in Czech – and Carson was right behind them and just as excited.

Me, I couldn't quit staring at the pod. It was maybe seven feet long and had a clear top, and lining the bottom was hundreds of what appeared to be drain holes as big around as my little finger. Man, what would it be like waking up in that thing, where your first view of the world was nothing but stark white sterile … nothing? That was just downright _creepy_.

"This is absolutely incredible!" Rodney said. The three of them were all huddled around his computer.

"Am I reading that correctly?" Carson added. He reached out to point at something on the computer screen and Rodney batted his hand away.

"Yes, is fully … automated," Zelenka said, clearly impressed. Then he rattled off something in Czech and shook his head.

"You mean it's a … what - clone vending machine?" I said, my freak-out meter finally pegging out. It popped out before I could stop it, and all three of them just turned and looked at me. I must have had a doozy of an expression on my face because what had the potential to be three somewhat peeved glowers softened instantly.

Rodney was the first to speak. Naturally. "Um, basically," he said, and the tone surprised me. Usually he just pops back with an insult and a terse explanation geared down to a three-year-old. This time he just offered an explanation without any snark. "The system takes a prepared specimen – and that seems to be the only real lab work involved here – and takes it from there." He tapped the screen. "Holy crap – no wonder the ZedPM is down. If I'm reading this correctly – which I'm pretty sure I am – it only takes ten days to create a complete adult clone." He met my eyes and for a second I couldn't tell if there was an apology or worry there. Then he dropped his gaze back to his computer as if he was embarrassed by the sudden show of emotion.

"Go back, go back," Zelenka said. "There – something about information transfer."

Our radios came to life right then and I welcomed the interruption. "Doctor Beckett," Teyla said, her voice tight, controlled. "We may need your help."

Beckett tapped his earpiece. "Carson here. Where are ye?"

We could all hear a tense voice in the background – it sounded like _me_. "We are on our way to the level two medical units."

Carson was already heading out the door. "What is the emergency?" he asked. He clearly understood Teyla's tone.

"Shadow brought one of the villagers in. She is pregnant and bleeding heavily."

"On my way," Carson said.

I decided to follow Carson – I really didn't want to stay in that room any longer. "You two, behave," I said as I backed out of the room. Zelenka nodded and Rodney grimaced.

Carson was coolly relaying orders to his two assistants as we trotted down the hall. The lift took a moment to arrive, and when it did the first thing we noticed was the blood on the floor. It wasn't much, and it had been smudged by bare feet and Teyla's boots, but it was enough to send Carson into full doctor mode. It was amazing to watch, really – he gets this Zen calmness around him like a cloak, but his eyes …. Man, they don't miss a thing and you can just see his brain going into overdrive. He didn't hesitate hitting the blood smeared control, and the ride up four levels took just a few seconds. The doors opened and we followed a faint trail of foot prints and small splatters to a med bay.

Teyla was standing in the hall and I joined her as Carson ducked inside, and we both just stood in the door, out of the way, and watched. I saw Carson hesitate ever so briefly when he saw the woman on the table. He probably had the same thought go through his head that I did – it's hard to believe she's a full grown woman when she was only the size of a twelve-year-old. And she was clearly in pain and freaking out big time. But he was by her side in a heartbeat and accepting a pair of latex gloves from his nurse, Carrie. His other assistant – could not for the life of me remember his name – was busy laying out the emergency field med kit. "Is this her first child?" Carson asked Shadow as he pulled on his gloves and picked up a stethoscope.

Shadow was standing by the table, one blood streaked hand on the woman's head and the other clenched in a death grip in one of her hands. He was gently stroking her hair and whispering to her, and in the middle of his litany he answered, "No, her second." Then he continued speaking to her only, a reassuring smile on his face and his voice calm, soothing.

Carson nodded as he listened to her stomach and frowned ever so briefly. "All right, then. We need to get her calmed down. Nurse, get me …."

Shadow cut him off with a quick glare. "I have it," he said. He started to pull away but the woman's sobs increased. Without hesitation he just grabbed one of Carson's hands and as gently as he could transferred her grip over to him.

"Here now, love – it's going tae be all right," Carson said and smiled. Yeah, I've been at the end of that before. Not the 'love' part, but definitely the look he was giving her right now that said he was going to do everything he could to make things right. And from the way she was focused on him, that look was obviously universal regardless of the language the reassurances were spoken in.

Shadow darted over to the wall and I could see blood smeared down his stomach and legs. A panel on the wall dropped open and revealed shelves of clay jars and bottles. He grabbed one jar, pulled the simple top off, and a second later was holding a tiny crimson blob of something to her lips. I caught a faint whiff of birthday cake and from past experience knew exactly what it was. She accepted it and in the space of a half dozen chews was starting to calm down. Wow, the uncut stuff worked fast. As Shadow gently took her hand back from Carson and laid it down he looked up at the doctor. "I'm going to try to stop the bleeding, but I'm not sure how successful I will be."

"Do your best, lad," Carson said.

Okay, now _this_ I was curious about. On our first visit here Big Bird's evil cousin had tried to kick my ribs in, and that night the other Nixta had healed the damage. I'd been wondering how she did that ever since because I never did get the chance to ask.

Shadow nodded and placed both hands on the now quiet woman's stomach and closed his eyes. Within a few seconds a fine sheen of sweat coated his face and he was bearing his teeth in a determined snarl I was more than familiar with. Then he lowered his head until it was nearly resting on the table and _growled_. It wasn't something a human throat could make – it was a deep rumbling thing that seemed to come up out of his chest – and I think we all jumped a little. It stopped abruptly and that was when the rippling line of shadow rose up on the backs of both hands, then traveled up both arms and down his spine. It took maybe two seconds at most, and it was clearly fur that rose and fell in a quick wave.

Carson flinched. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," he muttered. His nurse backed into the other assistant, who was standing there with his mouth open.

Shadow slumped and barely kept himself from going to his knees by holding onto the edge of the table. "I … think … that … did it," he said between gasps. The woman lifted a limp hand and placed it on his arm and offered him a faint, drug induced smile.

When Carson began to move the woman's blood streaked legs I turned away and wandered down the hall, past the lift, until I was well out of earshot. I didn't realize Teyla had followed me until I leaned against the wall and let out a deep breath. "Well, that was intense," I said and ran a hand down my face.

"Yes," she said quietly. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall next to me. She still seemed pretty, well, distracted. Unfocused. That wasn't like her at all.

"Are you all right?" I asked her.

Teyla glanced up at me and one of her eyebrows rose faintly. "I believe I should be the one asking you that question, Colonel."

I snorted and crossed my arms. "Yeah, well, in all honesty …." I shook my head chuckled, but quit instantly because it sounded a little too strained to my ears. "To say I'm freaked is the understatement of the fucking century." Part of me was ready to bust out in laughter, while another part of me wanted the lift doors to slam repeatedly on my head.

We were both distracted by said lift doors opening and Kintu leading a shell shocked man by the hand into the med bay. Must be the father. _Huh, so the little guy knows some of his way around the place,_ I thought to myself. When I glanced back at Teyla she was still watching me. "I would have appreciated a little warning."

Teyla lowered her head for a moment. "I argued for that, but Carson was concerned about word getting out on Atlantis before you had had a chance to … absorb the information."

I grimaced as I digested that. "Yeah, good point, I guess," I finally muttered.

A little of Teyla's normal self shined through when the corner of her mouth rose. "Major Lorne has been highly amused by your double's state of … undress."

"Well the Major is going to find himself 'highly amused' into a month of KP if he isn't careful." Then I glanced at her and saw her trying to fight a smirk. "And he just might have company," I growled.

She obviously didn't feel threatened because the smirk stayed.

I sighed. "I think Dr. Brown needs help. She still up in the atrium?"

"I will go see if she needs assistance," Teyla said and, by God, I think the smirk widened a touch before she turned and headed for the lift and left.


	2. II: In The White Room

**II: In The White Room**

I stayed in the hallway, alone, lost in my own thoughts for I don't know how long. I had wondered what else Nixta had taken from me in the middle of the night six months ago. Hell, I'd lain awake _hours_ thinking about that, and never in a million years would I have guessed she'd create the next Guardian from my stolen cells. And how much of me was really in him? There was no denying the fact he looked scarily like I did at twenty-five, but really….

How much of him was … human?

I closed my eyes and wiped sweat off my forehead. My heart was actually hammering in my chest and I slid down the wall and sat on the floor as everything finally started to sink in. _Okay, John, get a grip. You've been in worse situations than this._ I snorted. Yeah, but in those situations I could usually shoot my way out or rely on a well placed amount of C-4 to take care of things. This was just totally … fubar. And who the hell could I talk to about something like this? It sure as hell isn't going to be a shrink – they're about as useless as tits on a boar in my opinion. Teyla would offer an ear – she did before – but that just didn't feel right. I respected her as a teammate and all, but this was just too, I don't know – intimate, I guess.

And definitely not Rodney.

Oh, God no – he'd turn it into cannon fodder for practical jokes for years. I could just see it now – cat toys left in my vest pockets, boxes of kitty litter waiting for me in my bathroom, rubber mice in my boots.

Then I would have no choice – I'd have to shoot him.

I frowned and leaned my head back against the wall. Then I lightly banged it a few times. The frustrating thing about this whole situation, besides it making me question my own sanity, was other people's reaction to it. The humor is irritating and pretty much expected, and I can handle that. I think. But if anyone shows me pity or says they're sorry, so help me God I'm going to go fucking ballistic.

Then something went through my mind and I actually calmed a bit.

I wonder what _he_ thinks of all of this? Because really, if you step back and take a good long look, he's just as much of an unwitting player in this crap as I am. Automated clone production system – Jesus.

"Huh," I grunted and glanced down the hall. Nobody had come out of the room yet and I hoped that wasn't a bad sign. I took several deep breaths and finally felt my pulse start to slow down and that weird, tight cold feeling leave my chest that had been present since the atrium.

I was thinking about heading back down to control to make sure Rodney was behaving when my radio came to life. "Colonel, could you come back down to control?" Rodney said.

I tapped my earpiece as I got up. "Was just about to head that way. You must be psychic. Or is that psychotic?"

"Funny. Don't quit your day job," Rodney said and cut off his transmission.

A minute later I was standing at the door to the White Room and was glad to see the ZPM was still in place and nothing was dismantled. Yet. Zelenka had his laptop set up on top of the pod and he noticed me standing there before Rodney did. "Ah, Colonel. Come in," he said.

"Gimme a sec, Radek," I said. I took a deep breath, ran a hand across my mouth, stepped across the threshold, and hey – my pulse stayed normal. Rodney flashed me a worried look and that made me frown murderously at him. "So, what'dya got?" I said through my teeth and boom, just like that I could see Rodney knew right where to stand with me on this whole mess. Good.

"Took the scenic route on the way down?" Rodney shot back. And just for a second the corner of his mouth twitched up in an understanding smirk.

_Good friend,_ I thought. "No – I was looking for a gourd of that good stuff we had last time for Radek to sample."

"Oh, yeah," Rodney said with some truly heartfelt wistfulness. "Radek, you could take a lesson from these pygmies."

Zelenka pushed his glasses up. "I will have you know, my product is perfect …."

"As a disinfectant," Rodney muttered.

"Bah. What does Canadian know about good vodka? Your country is bland, bring the world Celine Dion and 'Wreck of Edmond Fitzgerald'." Radek mimed a yawn.

_Ouch,_ I mouthed to Rodney.

Rodney twitched, jaw out. "I will have you know that I spent enough time in Russia to know that, one – vodka should not be the various and assorted colors of the rainbow, either singularly or combined. It's clear, Radek, _clear_. And two – it should _not_ turn your urine a matching color for the next two days. And three …." He twitched his head in that way that always made me think of Rodney _Dangerfield_. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with Gordon Lightfoot," he finished in a rush.

I snorted and shook my head sadly. "You have to admit, though - they did give us Bob and Doug MacKenzie," I said to Zelenka.

He pursed his lips and nodded as he thought. "True. True. _Strange Brew,_ very underrated movie." Then he turned to Rodney and said, "Take off, you hoser." And he nailed it.

Rodney just kind of crumpled in exasperation and glanced back and forth between us. Then he sighed heavily, gazed upwards, and said with arms flapping, "Why? Why me? What did I do to disserve this?"

_I could elaborate, but we'd be here all week_, I thought and held back a snort. But, ah, it was good to have things almost back to normal. I wandered over by Zelenka and peeked at his computer. There was a graphic of a DNA strand with pieces lighting up here and there, and information was scrolling by alarmingly fast. "Is that …." I hooked a thumb roughly in the direction of the ceiling.

"Yes," Zelenka replied and adjusted his glasses. "You may appear too disturbingly alike on surface for me to handle at moment without antacid, but underneath you are as similar as, as, apples and tomatoes. The level of genetic alteration is …." He rattled off something in Czech that almost made me say _gesundheit_. "I am making copy of record for Carson – he will be very interested." Then he glanced at me over the top of his glasses and hesitantly asked, "So, can he, you know." He curled his fingers into claws and briefly bared his teeth in a poor excuse of a snarl.

I put my hands on my hips and clamped my lips down, but it was more from an effort to keep from smiling than from getting pissed. His asking like that just, I don't know, made it easier to deal with. "I'm pretty sure," I said. "He did that ripply-fur thingy upstairs a little bit ago."

"Did Carson see?" Rodney asked.

I nodded. "He jumped."

"Huh," Rodney said. "'Bloody hell' or 'Jesus, Mary, and Joseph'?"

"The second."

"Wow, he was really surprised, then," Rodney said. Then he proceeded to switch topics in his usual spastic ADD way. "We've pretty much figured out how this whole system works. The operator takes an already fertilized egg that hasn't started dividing yet and replaces the nucleus with one from the cell of the, ah, chosen sample. Straight forward somatic cell nuclear transfer – just like Dolly." He glanced at me in worry suddenly, as if being compared to a cloned sheep might have been the wrong thing to say. I shrugged and just lifted my chin to get him for him to continue. "The sample then is placed in cold storage until needed. That is in a lab one floor above."

"Huge cold storage facility," Zelenka added. "Thousands of specimens. No, millions. Takes up half of level."

"Right. When it's needed – and I haven't quite figured out how this place knows when to make a new Guardian – the sample is retrieved automatically." He came over to the pod and tapped the clear top. "This fills with a nutrient matrix, the sample is injected, and within seconds after cell division starts it's just bombarded with controlled radiation to accelerate growth." He glanced briefly at the ZPM and a pained frown briefly crossed his face.

"Once embryo has reached, oh, six month stage roughly, then it is subjected to gene enhancement," Zelenka added. He scooted down along the edge of the pod. "See all these holes in bottom? Each one contains tube, different ones come out different stages, and attach to clone and introduce new gene therapy."

I crossed my arms and frowned. They both stopped and were looking at me expectantly. This time I just waved them on to continue.

Rodney cleared his throat. "Ah, this goes on over the space of ten days. Now the last step is really, really cool. See that cap in the top? Well, once the body is complete that lowers down and hundreds of monofilaments inject into the clone's brain."

I grimaced and felt my heart shoot up a few beats per minute.

"Okay. Maybe, um, maybe 'cool' wasn't the best choice in words," Rodney said with a crooked grimace. "Anyhow, everything the Guardian needs to know is dumped directly into its brain." He started ticking things off on his fingers. "Language, schematics, systems details, logs, you name it – _everything_ it will need to know to run this place until the Ancients return, downloaded in just a few minutes."

_What about personality and emotions?_ I wondered to myself. _Experience? All those things that make a person a person? Did the fucking Ancients ever factor that into their little experiment?_

"But, unfortunately, Ancients never return," Zelenka said. "So system keeps running. These Guardians have long life, when die, replaced with new." He took his glasses off – a sure sign he's either thinking something over or something is bothering him – and cleaned them on his shirt. "Very cold, efficient system, if you ask me."

"So this thing just cranks out, what, a walking breathing organic _interface_ to keep this place running?" I said. I scrubbed a hand hard across my face. Sometimes the Ancients really piss me off – makes me want to hunt them down and kick them in their evolved, ascended asses.

"Well, yes and no," Rodney said as he called up some data on his computer. "The Ancients originally did design the project to be nothing but a custodian – as a matter of fact the first being it did create is referred to by that name in the records."

Zelenka made the most disgusted snort I have ever heard as he put his glasses back on.

Rodney continued. "But that first one started keeping its own _personal_ records and by the time it was nearing the end of its, well, usefulness it created a subroutine to add that into the information dump into the new Guardian. A name it chose for itself, by the way. And every one ever since has added to that file."

"It's as if they were injecting their own … humanity into program," Zelenka added.

"Then why the cat thing?" I said.

"I have theory," Zelenka said. He glanced at Rodney and held up a hand to keep him quiet. "The Ancients needed this Guardian to stay alive, keep lab and information safe, yes? What better way than to infuse it with a god-like ability? Make primitive locals worship and protect instead of kill and destroy."

"Huh," Rodney said and cocked his head. "That's actually … good." Zelenka and I froze for a second and just stared at Rodney. Rodney stared back. "What?"

I shook my head and Zelenka grunted. "But the whole thing kind of turned around on them," I said as I remembered Nixta's last words to me – _please help __my__ people_. "The Guardian started to care more for the people than the experiments."

"Exactly," Zelenka said.

I looked down at the pod and another thing popped through my mind. "Did any of the other previous Guardians have the ATA gene?"

"I don't believe so," Rodney said. "At least, not as far as I've been able to find. It does look like about, oh, four incarnations ago the Guardian started taking samples from travelers through the stargate for new genetic material. Maybe they were searching for it, but just hadn't been successful until now."

So Shadow was the first Guardian with the ATA gene. My previous freak-out state was starting to get replaced with seething anger. "The Ancients didn't want their little pet experiment to have run of the place, wanted it to stay in line and do what it was programmed to do," I halfway growled to myself.

"Seems that way," Rodney said. He sounded a little alarmed at my reaction.

"Assholes," I muttered. I rubbed the back of my neck. "You two about done in here?"

"As soon as this file downloads," Zelenka said. "When finished, we leave room."

"Yeah," Rodney said. He glanced around the stark white _sterile_ room. "I hate to say it, but this is really starting to creep me out."

Twenty minutes later I was sealing the room down tight again. I also thought about setting a charge of C-4 but that was just the vindictive part of me putting in its two-cents worth.

Zelenka went back to the station he was working at earlier and reconnected his computer. "Will you two be staying for feast later?"

Rodney's head shot up. "They having Jubjub?" he asked hopefully.

"What is Jubjub?" Zelenka said dubiously.

"Big bird, local, mean as hell, tastes wonderful," I said though a grin. "Kintu and his boys ride 'em."

"Oh," Zelenka said. "Yes, that is what they brought back this morning. But they did not call it by that name."

"We're staying," Rodney said. "Besides, Radek could probably use some help."

Zelenka's frown indicated he didn't.

"Okay. I'll check in with Elizabeth, let her know we're staying. Do you need anything sent over?"

"No, I think I have everything I need," Rodney said. He was already distracted by the prospect of playing some more in the outpost's database. Zelenka shot me a very pained and pleading look, but all I could do was offer a shrug as I backed out of the room. By the time I got to the lift I could already hear them arguing.

I stepped out of the lift on the ground level and went looking for Teyla and Dr. Brown. I circled the fountain and could only find one Marine at the door. He got twitchy again, but that quit soon enough when I nonchalantly readjusted one of the thigh straps on my sidearm. He pointed out an entrance to a corridor to the right that was all but hidden by plants and I left after the sharpest salute I've received in a long time. I followed the gently curving hall about halfway around the side of the building and found Katie showing Teyla and Lorne how to pack what specimens she had collected for transport back to Atlantis. She had one of three storage crates folded open and nearly full.

Teyla glanced up and nodded at me. Lorne offered a brief salute and a poker face then quickly looked away. Katie gave me a quick once over and actually blushed a little. _Oh, man_, I thought, and for a second I wanted to just turn around and head back the way I came. Good thing Rodney wasn't here to see that; I don't know if his computer could handle another drop.

"Colonel, isn't this place amazing?" Katie said.

"I didn't realize this was back here," I replied and glanced around. Made sense, though – the corridor in the living quarters upstairs ringed the building.

"This goes all the way around," Katie continued without looking directly at me. "When Nixt … Shadow gave me a tour earlier he explained that each section is devoted to different climate zones, and those are separated by either a shield, if the zones are similar for light requirements, or an actual bulkhead if not."

"You should see the fungus room, sir," Lorne said. "Yummy," he added under his breath.

"I personally enjoyed the grassland and high desert area," Teyla said. "It smelled wonderful. And it was _dry_."

"And all of these have some kind of medicinal value?" I asked.

Katie nodded. "It's been difficult choosing samples. Shadow pointed out ones I might find interesting and it's nearly filled all of my cases. I can't wait to hit the second floor."

"What's up there?"

"The toxic and dangerous plants."

I must have looked alarmed because Teyla said, "It is perfectly safe, Colonel. The truly poisonous plants are contained within protective shielding, and most of the hazardous substances produced by the rest must be refined in some way to release their potential."

"The most we might get is a rash a little cortisone cream will take care of," Katie assured me.

"Okay," I said. "But if you need to collect anything, have the Major here do it for you." Lorne glanced up briefly and I just offered him a tight little smile. _Teach you to be 'highly amused'_, I thought. I saw Teyla cover her smile with a hand. "Well, Rodney and I are going to stick around, at least for the night. I'm going to take the Jumper and check in with Weir, then maybe take a short jaunt around the area."

Teyla stood up and brushed the knees of her pants. "How is the woman they brought in?" she asked softly.

"I don't know – didn't check," I replied quietly then felt bad _because_ I hadn't. "I'm pretty sure Carson and Shadow have things under control."

"I'm sure you are right," Teyla said. "We will be eating at sunset again. That should be in roughly three hours."

"I'll definitely be back by then," I said. My mouth watered at the thought of roasted Jubjub again.

And my stomach _growled_ at the smell as I trekked back through the currently rain free village. I detoured to one of the few stone buildings that stood in the place – a large communal kitchen like set up – and tried to finagle an early taste, but all I got was a few hand slaps and a lot of giggling. Someone did take pity on me and hand me some just-off-the-cooking-stone flat bread as they shoved me out the door, so that was okay. It was gone before I was even halfway to the village gate.

I sent the Marine guarding the Jumper back to the Temple, and as I took it up through the jungle canopy I was happy to see a little clear sky headed our way. As I brought it around and headed for the Great Pyramid, I couldn't help but to flash back on the tense trip from the village to the stargate the last time we were here. I covered the distance in a matter of seconds; on foot it took us nearly forty minutes, and Nixta, Kintu, and his riders kept us safe. I wonder - if we hadn't gone to salvage the MALP, would she still be alive today? Or would that other big cat have stalked them and gutted her on the way back? Or maybe it was just a matter of time and she was nearing the end anyway. She did say something to that effect the night before, and quite honestly this wasn't the first time all this had gone through my head. There was just more light this time around, but that still didn't ease the fact that I felt somehow partly responsible for her death that day.

I landed the Jumper, got out, and walked over to the edge of the platform. The broken stone that marked where the MALP took its fatal tumble was now the same color as the rest of the weather worn rock around it. The untarnished arm was still sitting on the first terrace down but I couldn't tell for sure where the rest lay at the bottom because of new growth. But I knew roughly where she had died trying to protect us. I could still hear that scream in my head, and when I closed my eyes I could even see clear as day the beads from her belt scattering in the sun when she made that final change. Funny what the mind focuses on in times of stress. When I was shot down over Afghanistan I don't remember the sound, or the explosion of the anti-aircraft round that took me down, or much of the landing, really. No, the one clear thing I remember was how the seam of my right sock was digging into my little toe and that it had been driving me absolutely bat-shit crazy since I got in the chopper that morning. Go figure.

Bright sunlight hit my closed eyes and I cracked them open. As I fished out my sunglasses I thought about the White Room and the Guardians. Each one had started their life knowing full well they were a, well, _tool_ created by the Ancients for just one purpose. Man, that's gotta fuck you up in the head some. And from the sounds of it they were trying to change it. Nixta may have strayed off the path a little, but now I think I understand her reasoning behind what she did a little better.

As I walked back to the Jumper I think a little part of me forgave her, and some of my anger – but not all of it, mind you - was redirected at her creators.

I dialed up Atlantis from inside the Jumper and told Elizabeth that Rodney and I were staying the night.

"And that issue Carson needed to see you about?" she asked.

How much should I tell her? Should I ask her to switch over to a secure channel? Naw. I decided to evade. "Taken care of – wasn't life threatening. I'll brief you when I get back." Oh man, am I glad she can't see me say that. She'd know I was hiding something.

Judging from the pause that followed, she knew. Crap. "All right, Colonel. Enjoy your Jubjub." Heh, she remembered. "Atlantis out." I closed the ''Gate.

I spent the next two hours and then some scouting out the area with the Jumper cloaked. I first headed deeper into the interior to see if I could find any sign of that other village Nixta mentioned. I did find a volcano that had erupted recently and covered a shitload of land with those slow moving lava flows like you see in Hawaii. Scanning didn't reveal any other settlements within the vicinity, and within the vicinity I mean the entire peninsula that the city sat smack dab in the middle of. I did get lots of life signs but had no idea if they were people or wildlife, and the jungle canopy was too thick to actually _see_ anything. There was another huge abandoned city near the coast, but this one was mostly rubble.

Before I headed back I shot into orbit and checked out the planet. It had five major continents and less ocean than Earth, but looked pretty much the same as a lot of the others we've visited. I didn't pick up anything of interest with the Jumper's limited scanners so I went back. I approached the village in the light of a bright orange sunset but I knew another rain front was on its way – I could see the dark line of clouds on the horizon just before I dropped below the jungle canopy.

The walk back through the village was torturous it smelled so good. I had an escort of children, and judging from the laughter and waves I got from the women in the primitive kitchen, they were sent as a diversion. I tried to play their little game of tag with them, but I guess I just wasn't as scary as Ronon or as twitchy as Rodney to make it any fun. As I got close to the Temple I could see they were setting up for the feast on the flagstones around the base of the stairs. There were already reed mats and those back rests I remember from last time set up in groups and clusters and everyone available seemed to be helping. As soon as I got close the kids were put to work, their mission accomplished. I wove my way through the setup and was in a pretty good mood as I took the stairs two at a time. The two Marines were stone faced when they saluted and that just made me grin even wider.

I found the inside of the atrium had been set up as well and quite a few of the village elders already lounging in the _dry_ space. Kenje, Kintu's father, waved me over to where he sat by the fountain. He used to have Kintu's job as keeper of the big nasty birds they kept as mounts and he certainly showed it. Half his face was scar tissue from what must have been a beak attack and he was missing most of his right arm. This close I could see other old scars across his wiry body and bisecting his faded tattoos. _Man, he's had a rough time of it_, I thought as he reached up and put a hand on my shoulder. The top of his head maybe came to the middle of my sternum so it was a little of a reach and I tried very hard not to bend over as he started talking in case he found it insulting. He went on for a couple minutes in this grandfatherly tone, then smiled and patted my shoulder. I smiled back and nodded even though I didn't understand a single word he said.

"That was very nice," Teyla said next to me and actually made me jump.

"What was that about?" I asked and kept the smile plastered on my face.

"I missed the first part, but he wanted to thank you for the future you have given his village and his people," she said with a smile.

I felt my own smile start to slide from my face. "Um, please tell me he's talking about, ah, Shadow."

Teyla glanced up at me before she asked. Kenje replied. Even though her smile was still open and friendly when she glanced back up at me, I've known her long enough to tell that it wasn't her _true_ smile. She opened her mouth and it took a couple tries before she could speak. "He said he is looking forward to seeing tall, proud Nixtahuec hunters." He said something else at length and the people sitting around us all broke out laughing. Teyla even barked out a short laugh then covered her mouth.

"What?" I asked as I felt a mild panic start to creep back into my brain. Teyla tried to talk but she kept one hand to her mouth and waved the other. "What?" I asked again out of the corner of the frozen grin I still had on my face. While she was getting herself under control, Kenje bent down and pushed a long necked gourd whose base was nearly as big as a ten pound pumpkin into my arms. The contents sloshed noticeably.

Teyla finally pulled herself together enough to sputter out, "He said he hopes the sons of the loud one will not scare the game away."

The wave of relief that washed over me made my vision swim for a second. Then I felt guilty, but again, only for a second. I had to clamp my teeth down hard on my lips for a moment and decided if I looked at Teyla right then I'd lose it completely. I held up the gourd and nodded a thanks to Kenje. He nodded back and slowly sat back down as if his joints hurt.

Teyla and I started to walk away, both of us slightly dazed. "Holy shit," I finally said. I was hugging the gourd and fought the urge to pop the stopper and drink directly from it.

Teyla cleared her throat. "We should tell Rodney," she said, her voice slightly strangled.

"Holy shit," I said again. I was cloned – Rodney was going to have red-headed bastard stone-age step-children running around. For once I saw part of something coming. "Uh, let's not. At least not for a few years."

"That is …."

"Evil. Yeah, I know." Then I had a thought. _I_ still had a sample somewhere in cold storage. There might still be the chance of tall, proud Nixtahuec hunters whose feet dragged on the ground when they rode their Jubjubs or tried to get the things to actually _fly_. "Uh, on second thought, maybe later. After he's had some of this. And we're back on Atlantis."

They had a space set up for us on the other side of the fountain. Rodney, Zelenka, Katie, and Lorne were already sitting. There were several baskets of fruit set out and clay cups, and when Rodney saw me carrying a gourd he bounded to his feet. "Ooo, I'll take that," he said and reached twitchy fingers for it.

I held on fast and just grinned wickedly. "I'll pour the first round," I said and really, really wished I had some of those bubble-gum cigars to hand out. Maybe when we get back to Atlantis I can order some for the next supply drop – squeeze it in between the request for ketchup and hand grenades. Rodney just shrugged and sat back down between Radek and Katie. As I filled cups I said, "Major, tell Morales and Ferguson they can stand down for the night. I think we'll be safe here. Oh, and tell them to keep ogling down to a minimum – after all, we are guests."

"Yes, sir," Lorne said and popped to his feet almost as fast as Rodney did a moment ago.

I finished filling all the cups and that killed about half the gourd. I sat and took my first sip and honey, flowers, and cantaloupe filled my sinuses. Oh yeah, as good and smooth as I remembered. I glanced over at Zelenka as he took his first drink. He swished it around in his mouth and his eyebrows rose nearly to his receding hairline. "So, what dya think?"

Zelenka frowned but he was nodding his head in approval. "Is … palatable," he said and pushed his glasses up. Then he took a bigger drink. "Yes, yes, I may concede, but must sample more to be sure." Then he lifted his cup in a salute and said, "Here's to glory of scientific process."

We all raised our cups in reply.

Lorne and the Marines - both tall strapping kids barely in their twenties - got back in time for the toast and took a seat as far from me as they could in the crowded space. If the twins show up later they were going to be in big trouble.

I glanced around and saw some of our party hadn't shown up yet. I tapped my earpiece. "Hey, Carson. Dinner will be starting soon. Are you able to make it?"

"Aye, we will," he replied. He sounded tired. "Where are we tae be?"

"We're set up by the fountain. Can't miss us."

"We'll be up shortly. Beckett out." A few minutes later I saw the lift doors open from where I sat and Carson, Carrie, and Jamie – that's his name – all looked absolutely beat as they came down the hall. He sat down heavily next to me and I just handed them all cups without a word. "Thank you," Carson said and took a hesitant sniff. Then he took a sip and sighed from his toes. "Ah, definitely what the doctor ordered."

"Bad?" I asked quietly. Teyla was sitting on my left and she leaned forward in concern.

"Aye. Xili, the mother, is going tae be fine, but we lost the babe." His voice was barely above a whisper.

"I am sorry," Teyla said, and when that comes from her you know it's genuine.

Carson rubbed his eyes then ran his hand down his face. "Was for the better, really – the poor wee lad had the worst cleft palate I've ever seen. He wouldn'tae lived long had he gone full term."

I just put a hand on Carson's shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. "Food should be here shortly. Rest, relax, drink up. You're with friends."

"I don't know how much I'll eat," he said. He held up his cup. "This is quite good."

"Will Shadow be joining us?" Teyla asked.

"No – he's going to sit with Xili," Carson replied. "That lad knows his way around an Ancient medical lab, that's for sure. Once he got his wind back he was making us look bad." Then he leaned forward and lowered his voice again. "We never got the chance tae see _how_ he stopped the bleeding – everything happened too fast after that. I tried to find any reference in the database but couldn't."

The food started showing up then and interrupted us. "I bet Rodney could help with a search later," I said, then I was distracted by the smell of roasted Jubjub. "Later," I repeated.

Carson nodded and his eyes got wide as two half-naked giggling women set right in the middle of all of us a plank the size of a dinner table leaf that was mounded with steaming meat. Then one proceeded to refill our cups before disappearing with the empty gourd. It was soon replaced, however, followed by baskets of flat bread and we all dug in. And the Jubjub was just as tasty as before. I glanced over at Rodney and saw he was bright red and ignoring the natives. Katie was trying really hard not to be amused at his discomfort, but was losing the battle. Teyla and I were pretty blasé about the whole thing, being as we've seen this before, but the rest of the group was doing an awful lot of staring. By the time the second gourd was emptied they were loosening up, however.

At one point I saw the lift open and Kintu came out. He smiled happily at me as he went by, then a few minutes later he and a woman went back with several baskets piled high with food. They both came back right away, empty handed, and joined the group on the other side of the fountain.

After we decimated the food, Carson and his people called it an early night – they were all pretty wiped out from the day's events and needed to pack all their equipment up in the morning. Teyla led a very giggly Katie away not too much later. I sat there and frowned at Rodney until he noticed, and when he did he shrugged and mouthed, _what?_ I just rolled my eyes and shook my head. The man's a genius, can MacGyver nukes out of cafeteria leftovers and Legos if need be, but he doesn't know crap about women. He could have seen her safely to her room, make a nice impression, but no – he just sat there having a drunken argument with Radek about whether or not ionization or controlled radiation can enhance the distillation process.

I relaxed and helped polish off a fourth gourd before I decided to call it a night. By now most of Radek's arguments were in Czech but that didn't seem to stop Rodney from arguing right back. Hell, I think _unconsciousness_ is the only thing that stops Rodney from arguing, now that I think about it. Lorne and the boys had behaved themselves – I think it was more out of fear of me that day than anything else – and were watching the two scientists with some amusement. "Will you make sure those two get poured into a bunk somewhere?" I said as I got to my feet. It took a couple tries.

"Yes, sir," Lorne said. "You do know where the bunks are?"

"Third floor," I said and he nodded. Then I saw Lorne's eyes widen a little and a second later the two Marines' jaws dropped open. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, turned my head, and there were the twins standing by the fountain, arm in arm. _Ah, right on time_, I thought. _Boys, you're in trouble now._ But then I realized they weren't checking out the new meat.

They were checking out _me_.

I swallowed hard. The look they were giving me right now made me feel like I was a double cheeseburger and they had been eating nothing but MRE's for the last six months. "Oh boy," I said under my breath as my brain attempted to short circuit all logic and just let the libido take over. They took a step forward and I broke out in a sweat and took an involuntary step back.

Then the Marines saved me from having to explain any embarrassing sprains to Carson in the morning by being gentlemen and standing up in the presence of the ladies. Now Ferguson was almost as tall as Ronon and the second he rose to his full height the twins focused on him and smiled. The wattage of their combined dimples worked damn near as good as a stunner on the poor kid. I took that opportunity to do an about face, and as I walked off I heard Rodney say to Zelenka, "Oh look – it's the Size Matters Twins."

As I walked down the hall to the lift I ran a hand down my face then held it over my mouth to block a sudden laugh. Why do I have a sneaky suspicion my clone has been a very bad boy? Or is that a very good boy? Oh jeez – that was almost too embarrassing to contemplate. I stepped into the lift and just before the doors closed I saw one of the twins look my way and pout. The libido gave a last ditch twinge in reply and I was glad I was the only one in the lift at the moment as I hit the controls. A few seconds later the doors opened to a sight that instantly brought up memories that pretty much killed my hard-on before it could get too uncomfortable.

I walked cautiously into the foyer and glanced around. The fountain and the reed matting on the floor was the same, but there were a lot fewer tapestries than before. The oldest had been taken down and the entryways to the halls and stairwells were now open instead of hidden. To the right would be the Guardian's quarters. To the left was where we stayed the last time. I took a moment at the fountain to splash some cool water on my face before I went into the hall. I paused briefly at the first door I came to and wondered if that fur was still draped over the bed. I almost opened it, but then just backed away and kept right on going.

_A/N: Fear not, the next chapter is mostly Sheppard and Shadow!_


	3. III: Here Kitty Kitty

**III: Here Kitty Kitty**

It was sometime after three a.m., Atlantis time, when a dream of Wraith and a mercy killing made me snap wide awake, pulse racing, and that single gunshot echoing through my head. I sat up, swiveled around and thought the lights on before my feet hit the floor. I also had my nine-mil in my hand.

The room was empty.

"Shit," I said and scrubbed hard at my face as the old nightmare crawled back into the dark little hole where it belonged. I put the safety back on and just set the gun on the bed next to me as I waited for my pulse to wind down. It took awhile, and when I was finally relaxed again I knew I was pretty much done with sleeping for the night. I got up, got dressed, and decided to go wandering while everyone else was asleep.

I took the stairs instead of the lift, and when I came to the second floor balcony I stopped and leaned on the railing. I expected it to be dark in the atrium, but the light was set at a level equivalent to a full moon on a cloudless night. You could damn near see colors in the blue-white light and from my vantage point I could see a dozen different kinds of night blooming flowers around me. However, the smell was damn near overpowering on this level so I decided to go down into the atrium proper before I started sneezing my head off.

The reed mats and back rests had been rolled up and set aside. Other than that there was no evidence of the dozens of people who had filled the area earlier in the evening. I was hoping someone had left a half full gourd of the good stuff behind but, no, after a quick search I was out of luck.

I was halfway around the fountain before I realized I wasn't alone. Shadow was sitting in the Temple doorway, his back against the jamb, his knees drawn up and his forearms resting on them. He had his head turned to the right and was staring out into the night.

I stood there for a moment, not sure if I should disturb him or not, then thought _what the hell_. When I walked up he turned his head briefly towards me and just acknowledged me with a slight lift of his chin and eyebrows. Then he was looking back out into the darkness.

I slid down the wide doorjamb opposite him and wound up sitting in the exact same position without even thinking about it. Okay, that was weird. I turned my head to the left and could see and hear a light rain hitting the top of the stairs. Beyond that, nothing but pitch blackness. That utterly empty void beyond the stairs made me miss the lights of Atlantis, the lights of home.

I turned my head back and just studied Shadow in silence for a several minutes. Other than the completely smooth skin and the slightly broader shoulders, he really was a dead ringer for me at twenty-five. Hard to believe he was technically only six months old. But his was a face I was intimately familiar with, and even in this dim light I could tell by the set of his mouth and the faint crease between his eyebrows that he was worrying over something in his mind. Anybody else would have thought he was relaxed right now, but I knew better.

Shadow turned his head and studied me in return, no doubt seeing the same thing reflected in my face. His pupils were so dilated right now his eyes looked black, and when he titled his head a fraction they reflected a glowing pale blue for a moment.

Hey, I was proud of myself – I kept my breathing steady and my expression calm even though my heart was pounding so hard in my chest I was sure he could hear it.

He must have picked up on something because he drew his head back a little, then lowered his gaze to his hands and drew his lips into a tight line. "This is … strange," he said after a moment.

"Yeah," I replied. We sat in silence for easily another minute. "Has this ever happened before?"

"A Guardian meeting its … source?" Shadow frowned and shook his head slowly. "No. I believe this is a first."

"Huh."

"Now I understand why this situation was avoided in the past," Shadow said and leaned his head back against the wall. The right side of his mouth lifted a fraction and he made that weird little chuffing noise. It was hard to explain exactly what that was like. It wasn't really a snort – it was like a short, forced exhale that puffed his lips slightly and was accompanied by a noise in the back of the throat that sounded like, I don't know, the start of a startling deep purr. It was definitely the sound a really big cat would make, and every time I heard it the hairs on the back of my neck would stir. "It is very disconcerting," he added softly.

"No shit," I said under my breath. We sat there a few more minutes, the only sound the rain on the stairs just beyond us. My tailbone started to go numb sitting like that so I stretched my legs out and tucked my right ankle under my left thigh. Then I readjusted my shoulders and just laced my hands over my stomach.

Shadow's eyebrows lowered a little and he asked out of the blue, "What role do you fill for your people?"

I thought about that for a second. "I'm a soldier," I said. Then the corner of my mouth twitched up as I thought about it some more. "I watch over my geeks, keep them safe." _And what a frustrating, full time job that is some days_, I thought.

Shadow's eyebrows rose in surprise. "We … serve a similar purpose, then."

"Yeah, I guess we do." I snorted. "Must be in the name." At his cocked head I said, "Sheppard. A shepherd is a person on my world who watches over flocks of animals and protects them."

Shadow thought about that for moment, then nodded faintly. "It's in the blood," he said more to himself than to me.

At the mention of blood I tensed up. He noticed instantly and tensed up, too, and I clearly saw his nostrils flare a few times as he tested the air. That, for some reason, really bugged me. It was so … not human. I opened my mouth, and it took a couple of attempts to finally ask, "Is that what she used? In the White Room?"

Shadow jerked faintly and sat up a little straighter. He just stared at me and I couldn't tell for sure if he was surprised I knew about the place, or pissed because I had been there. Maybe it was a combination of both. But he sat there, tensed for motion but utterly _still_, and I felt more threatened right at that moment than I ever did staring down the end of a gun. Finally he took in a deep breath. When he released it the tension left and the crease was back between his eyebrows. "Yes."

Then boom, my own anger rose up bright and hard and I found myself snarling. Shadow flinched and clamped his lips down, and I knew without a doubt he was feeling guilty. I took in a deep shaky breath and let it out slowly, then leaned forward and rested my elbows on my thighs. I glared up at him. "She. Had. No. Right." I carefully enunciated every word as the memory of that night brought both rage and shame.

Shadow slowly shifted into a cross-legged position and leaned forward so he could meet my eyes. "No, she didn't," he replied in a calm, even tone but I could see his nostrils flaring with every quick breath. "But _please_ try to understand that what she did was not done out of perversity or malice. She only wanted to help her people. Her intentions were not to hurt."

"Well, our people have a saying: 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'."

He took a deep breath and clamped his lips together. Then he lowered his head until all I could see was a shock of unruly black hair and hunched shoulders, and when he spoke I almost couldn't hear him over the rain. "She did regret what she did."

"And how the hell would you know that?" I spat back.

He raised his head. "It was the last thing she ever wrote."

I looked at him and his expression was so pained I felt my anger back off to a slow simmer. I rubbed my mouth, then set my arm back on

my leg and just looked at him. He just met my gaze steadily, and for a moment I could see more regret and sadness in his eyes there than there had a right to be for someone so … young. I had to look away. I took in another deep breath, held it, and let it out. When I spoke my voice was barely above a whisper. "Well, after what I learned about the Guardians earlier today, I think I can finally begin to forgive her." Damn, that was fucking hard to say out loud. I leaned back against the doorjamb and crossed my arms.

Shadow closed his eyes and lowered his head for a moment. We sat in silence again for several minutes before he sat up straighter and leaned back as well. "I should probably thank you."

I cocked my head faintly. "For what, exactly?" I asked cautiously.

"Because of your link to the Ancients, I am the first of my kind to have complete access of this facility." When he said the name of his creators, he actually gave a faint snarl that showed a bit of white fang. He waved a hand towards the darkness. "These people now have hope for a future."

I couldn't stop a bitter smile from touching my lips. "Does that future include artificial insemination?"

Shadow blinked and actually got a little embarrassed. "That was Nixta's plan. She hoped introducing some new bloodlines would help."

_And she told me she didn't think it would._ "Have you used any of, uh, us yet?" I asked as if I didn't already know.

Now he was really embarrassed and would not meet my eyes. "Yes, I did. I picked a few of the younger women and asked if they would … be willing." He brought his legs up and wrapped his arms tight around them. "A few volunteered, but I only used the sample from the loud, intelligent one."

"How many?" I asked and tried to sound stern because for a second there I could very easily picture a test tube labeled with that exact description.

Shadow's head came up and he tried to look chastised, but a hint of a proud smile flashed briefly. "There are two pregnant right now. The others were unsuccessful." He gave a faint shrug. "Fertility is a problem with these people – I'm hoping to find other ways to help with that, now that I have access to this …." He nodded toward the interior of the outpost. Then his eyebrows furrowed and rose a bit in the middle, and I recognized that guilty look. "I can destroy your sample, if you want."

I frowned as I thought it over. When the silence stretched into an uncomfortable minute, I finally said, "I'll get back to you on that. Unless you can …." I waggled a finger at him as I thought of the twins. Then I instantly regretted it when his face went completely still again, but there was that little furrow between his eyebrows.

"The Guardians are sterile," he said quietly. "Too much genetic tampering."

I grimaced. "Sorry." Then I just couldn't help myself. "But everything is, um, functional, isn't it?" The slow grin he gave in reply was one I'd been slapped for a few times in the past. It also got me a few really fond memories, too. For a second I felt like a proud poppa and started to grin myself. But I clamped down on it and just said, "Good. That's, that's good."

"Yes, it is," he replied with a knowing smirk. He relaxed his death grip on his legs and set his forearms back on his knees. Another quiet minute or two passed and it wasn't at all uncomfortable. "Do you have any children?" he asked hesitantly.

I shook my head and almost said _not that I know of_, but I've been careful over the years. Then I shrugged. "But you could say I do have quite the extended surrogate family." And if anyone on Atlantis heard me say that, they – and in that I'd mainly mean a certain egotistical astrophysicist - would probably tell me to lay off the high-g maneuvers because they were obviously causing severe brain damage. But inwardly, he and the others would probably agree. Some of us have been through too much the last few years to remain just colleagues and team mates – we were definitely family now. And without a doubt Atlantis our home.

Shadow nodded. "As do I." He sighed and that damn crease got more pronounced as he turned his head back toward the village in the darkness.

I had a good feeling I knew what had brought him out here in the middle of the night. We both have our own personal nightmares and it seems loss and an inability to stop it was at the heart of them. "Carson told me about the baby," I said quietly. "I'm really sorry."

Shadow swallowed and just ducked his head briefly. "Your doctor is a very compassionate man. He took the loss as hard as we did."

"Yeah, that's Carson – a giant heart in a lab coat." Then I grimaced. "Unless you're a patient and not following his instructions. That man has more evil ways of getting your meds _in_ you …." I shuddered. "And what gets me is he can do it all with such a pleasant smile on his face."

Shadow chuffed and grinned briefly. "I enjoy the way he speaks."

"Oh, and that's another thing – if the accent gets thicker, look out, because the next thing you know he'll be ordering his nurses to practice

their pre-op shaving techniques on you." I lifted a finger. "With a straight razor."

Shadow cocked his head and studied me for a moment. "You must not be a very co-operative patient."

"No, I'm a royal pain in the ass – I _hate_ being in a bed that long with nothing constructive to do," I said with a wicked grin. Then I sighed. "I don't know what we'd do without him." And that thought killed my smile completely.

"His presence was appreciated today," Shadow said and his attention returned to the night. "I've lost too many lately, and the little ones are always the hardest."

I suddenly got a chill even though the temperature was still somewhere in the seventies. "You've lost people?"

"Yes." He kept his face turned away and spoke quietly. "I lost an entire hunting party a month ago – five hunters and their Ixlatecutl. I spent three days searching and did catch a scent early on, but the rains obliterated the trail. All I found was Mital's broken bow and feathers. And blood." His voice lowered and took on a rumbling tone that I wish I could get. It was impressive. "Then last week Tleni disappeared while the women were harvesting pitu roots. Again, no tracks or scent because of the rain."

"Think it could be Wraith?" I said through my teeth.

"No – the 'Gate has been silent and there have been none of their ships on the Temple's scanners." He turned to face me and looked haunted. "An urtal could have taken Tleni, but not the hunters. Not all of them, anyway."

"What's an urtal?"

"That is what killed my predecessor."

I sucked in a breath as I remembered the big cat exploding out of the brush. It was easily the size of a Siberian tiger and had golden fur flecked with russet spots. Other details were kind of fuzzy since we all unloaded a shitload of bullets into the thing shortly thereafter. I do remember a short stubby tail and fangs as long as my hand, though.

"I've taken to accompanying the hunters on any forays into the jungle, and we try to stay close to the city. Less ground cover – more visibility. I'm considering firing some of the undergrowth when the drier season hits." Shadow leaned forward and clasped his left wrist with his right hand and kind of hunched over his knees. "I've also started preparing the level three hydroponics lab to grow some of our food here."

I almost asked him if he was over-reacting but the worry on his face stopped me. Then I decided if I were in his, um, loincloth, I'd probably be doing the same things. "How is progress on the wall coming?" It was three-quarters done when we were here last, and I didn't really pay much attention to it today.

"Just one small section left," he said. "With the rains and the previous events, we've had more hands helping."

I rubbed my chin. "You mentioned scanners – are they …."

"Active as we speak," Shadow said. Then he offered a hint of a shrug. "But I still keep watch. I don't sleep much at night."

_Neither do I_, I thought. "Sounds like you have all your bases covered." Then something else ticked through my head. "The null field. Does this facility also have a shield?"

"Shield and cloak," Shadow replied. "It's what keeps it from being discovered or destroyed by the Wraith. The wall is just behind the limit of the combined field."

"Whoa – combined?" I said. No wonder why Radek has been busy. Shadow nodded. "Sweet," I said to myself.

Shadow answered my crooked grin with a smug one of his own. "Does your village require such protective measures?"

I had to snort at that one and found myself nodding as spastically as Rodney. I forced myself to stop and said, "Oh, yeah, but the threats? Totally different. We at least have the advantage of being completely surrounded by ocean. And I have yet to see a pirate."

"Ocean?" Shadow said and perked up. "Really?"

Right then the expression on his face proved to me just how much of a kid he still was. But then, now that I think about it, I probably had a similar expression on my face when I figured out how to get a Jumper off the ground for the first time. Or when I threw Rodney off the balcony.

"I would love to see the ocean," he said. "My predecessor spoke fondly of it – she traveled there many times when the city was young."

I lowered my eyebrows. "I didn't think cats liked water." It popped out before I could think, but it didn't seem to faze him. Instead he gave me such an unabashedly happy grin he actually showed teeth.

"I love the water," he said. He indicated the fountain with a tilt of his head. "I wish that were deeper."

I blinked as a line from some movie I saw years ago suddenly went through my head: _When asked what he was doing naked in the fountain in Central Park at three a.m., Mr. Swan replied, "The back stroke"._ What the hell was that from? I just about had the name when a sound came from the night that made the lizard part of my brain want to piss itself and run away. I was on my feet in a heartbeat and gazing out into the darkness, my nine-mil in my hand and safety off. Now I've heard cougars scream before, but this was so much more … more _primal_ it made me break out in a sweat and my head begin to pound with an adrenaline rush from hell. I could hear some noises from the village as sleepers woke and a few children cried, but they were quiet soon enough.

I glanced sideways and was not entirely surprised to see Shadow was standing and had shifted into that half-cat, half-human form. He had lost some height since his legs now bent at distorted angles, but he seemed to have gained mass in his chest and shoulders. His ears were facing forward and he had his mouth open, tongue barely showing and slightly curled, and he was sucking in breaths in quick pants like he was tasting the air. I also noticed a ridge of fur was raised the entire length of his spine.

"What the fuck was that?" I whispered and squinted into the darkness.

Shadow closed his mouth just long enough to swallow before he said, "Urtal." Then he stepped out into the rain. I started to follow but he turned and held up a paw, er, hand and faced me. But what freaked me out more was that I could still see my some of my features in that feline face. "Can you see in the dark?" he asked.

"No."

"Then stay here – I will investigate." Before I could reply he turned and started down the stairs, which stayed dark. The only thing I could see of him after a few steps was the glint of gold from his belt and the pale loincloth. Then he was completely swallowed by darkness.

I only waited ten seconds, maybe less, before I turned around and ran for the lift. Like hell I was just going to just stand around and do nothing while he risked the chance of getting gutted by one of those fucking cats. I didn't bring my P90 with me – it and my vest were still upstairs in my room. I only brought my sidearm with me when I came down.

Problem was, I was pretty buzzed when picked a room at random along a hall of doorways that all looked exactly alike when I turned in last night. And I didn't pay too much attention when I got up earlier. Crap. Did I go ten or twelve doors down? Or more?

Once I was back up on the third level I took a chance on the tenth door and thought it open. It worked and I was treated to the sight of Zelenka's bare ass. He was snoring away in drunken, happy bliss so I quickly closed the door. The next door was locked and I backed away, but I heard the Ancient equivalent of doorbell chime from the other side. I silenced it as quickly as I could, but a few seconds later the door slid open and I found Morales poking his head around the edge and blinking at me in surprise. He snapped to attention and tried to look as soldierly as he could in his tighty whities. "Sir!" he said and saluted.

"At ease, Lieutenant," I said and tried really hard to keep my expression neutral. He immediately stood at parade rest and I damn near lost it. "Go back to bed," I said and cleared my throat because it came out a bit strangled.

"Is something the matter, sir?" he asked. "Should I wake the Major?"

"No, that isn't necessary," I said as I waved him to go back into his room. Then I had a thought. "Do you have any night vision goggles with you?"

"No, sir, but there are some in the Jumper." He was starting to grow a little concerned. "The Major is in the next room, I can …."

"It's fine, Lieutenant," I said and tried to get that growly quality in my voice like Shadow had. I didn't quite get it, but it had a wonderful effect – Morales's eyes got wide and he backed up a step. Cool. I shrugged like it was nothing and said, "Nothing to worry about – I can't sleep so I thought I'd go check on the Jumper, maybe take a walk around the village, check out the wall." Crap, that was lame. "Go back to sleep, Morales. That's an order," I said as I backed down the hall. I skipped the next room and found the rest of my gear in the fourteenth room. Jeez, I was two-thirds the way around the damn building. I put on my vest, snapped the P90 in place, and jogged the short way to the lift.

The stairs to the Temple lit up as I went down them and I didn't have to turn the flashlight on the P90 on until I actually got past the flagstones and hit ground. I was glad the path to the village gate was pretty clear so I made good time, and when I got there I found Kintu and a couple other hunters guarding the closed door. I was impressed by the wooden double door – it would have fit perfectly on a medieval castle. Had to be Shadow's idea. The little guys all stared at me as I jogged up. "Is Shadow out there?" I asked. They all gave me blank looks so I pointed at the gate and said, "Nixta?" Kintu nodded. I tapped my chest and pointed at the door. Kintu shook his head and made _go back_ motions. I lit my face with the flashlight, put on my best snarl, and did the same thing again as I took a step forward. That did it – Kintu glanced back and forth between me and the others before he reluctantly opened the gate wide enough for me to slip through.

I was glad the Jumper was only about thirty feet from the gate because, holy shit was it dark. The light from the interior was blinding once the hatch was lowered. I messily combed through two compartments before I found the night vision goggles. Then I went to the cockpit to retrieve a life signs detector and activate the Jumper's own sensors. The heads-up display came up and I swallowed. "You have got to be fucking kidding," I muttered and wiped rain from my face.

Do you know just how many things there are out moving around in a jungle at night? A shitload, that's how many.

I narrowed the parameters of the scan with a thought to things the size of a human or bigger. That narrowed down the possibilities considerably, and I could tell where Kintu and his boys were. There was something roughly a hundred yards from the Jumper and moving fairly slowly along what had to be the wall. I was taking the chance that was Shadow and killed the display. I stood at the rear hatch, and before I slid the goggles completely down I killed all the interior lights and gave my eyes a moment to adjust. Then I put them in place, and with the P90 cradled against my forearm and the life signs detector in my free hand I headed out.

I stayed within a dozen feet of the wall as I made my way through the low growth. A swath of ground cover had been cleared for maybe thirty yards from the base of the wall for planting and made it relatively easy to maneuver, but the rain was making all sounds blend together. I would stop every so often to check the detector, and after ten very long minutes I found I was getting closer to the one life sign. But I was also picking up another one that was out deeper in the thicker jungle growth.

And it seemed to be pacing me.

Twenty minutes later the rain was starting to let up and I was beginning to think that this was one of the stupidest things I've ever done. Whatever was in the jungle was still there, and the other sign I thought may have been Shadow was out of range. Twice I had tripped on vines and gone to my knees so not only was I soaked to the skin I was also carrying about ten extra pounds of mud from the knees down. I was now roughly a third of the way around the village, however, and there was no way in hell I was about to call it quits.

I was halfway around the village when that nightmare scream echoed through the darkness again. The rain was still distorting sound and I wasn't exactly sure which direction it came from or how far away it was. All I knew was that whatever had been pacing me in the jungle began moving, and fast. "Okay, this was probably a very bad idea," I said quietly as I backed closer to the wall. I trained my P90 on the spot of thicker jungle growth where I figured whatever it was would come through, but the damn thing froze just within the boundary of the deeper jungle. I spent a very tense minute wondering if it was Shadow, the urtal, or one of those damn Jubjubs before it moved again. What stepped out of the jungle was on two legs, had eyes flashing like beacons in the view from my goggles, and was steadily walking right towards me.

I could see the laid back ears before I heard the low growl, and I didn't need to be a genius like Rodney to figure out Shadow was really pissed at me. I turned my weapon away from him but kept the detector within sight. Shadow stopped a few feet away and glared up at me – he stood slightly hunched, his arms bent slightly at his sides and hands flexing. "I told you to stay at the Temple," he said. One side of his mouth rose with the words and flashed a lot of fang.

"And if I had ordered you to do the same thing, would _you_ have obeyed?" I said through my teeth. My tone made up for my lack of pointy teeth. Then I tapped my goggles. "Besides, I can see in the dark now."

Shadow's mouth snapped shut and I could see the skin on his nose wrinkle in a barely contained snarl. Then he took in a deep breath and let it out in the mother of all chuffs. "It's in the blood," he said grumpily and I saw his face relax. But not his ears – they remained plastered flat against his skull. He had drawn in his lips in an all too familiar grimace, however, and it looked very threatening as opposed to mildly annoyed when I did the same thing. He nodded toward my life signs detector. "What is that device?"

I glanced down at the display automatically and could see the two blips that defined us, and a third blip maybe a hundred feet away and slowly creeping closer. "Something that shows us we have company," I whispered and resettled my P90 on my forearm. Shadow glanced briefly at the display, then at me, and with a nod from him we set out side by side.

The kid moved so silently the only way I knew he was next to me half the time was from the smell of wet fur that wafted my way every once in awhile. I felt like a stampeding herd of lame elephants next to him, but the rain was disguising most of the noise I made. The other blip stayed just far enough away from us that I was pretty sure it knew we were there. We started moving closer to the thicker jungle growth and Shadow moved a few paces ahead of me. I could see his head swivel occasionally and knew he was searching for a scent. Pretty soon even I caught the unmistakable smell of _eau de tom cat_ and Shadow actually picked up the pace.

We had closed the distance between us and the other blip to maybe fifty feet before it came to a halt. We both froze in place also, and I saw a brief flash of eyes in the brush up ahead. I stepped up next to Shadow and showed him the scanner. He nodded and leaned in a little closer. "It may charge us," he said in a whisper and I felt whiskers briefly tickle my cheek. Then he motioned me to move to the side.

I had a sudden flashback to that day by the Great Pyramid. Nixta did the same thing to Kintu, and the hunter had edged his bird sideways so he could have a clear shot as she advanced. I started to carefully move to my right, and as I did so I glanced briefly at Shadow. He was carefully removing his belt and loincloth, no doubt getting ready to shift into the full panther form. I started to move faster, my eyes on the brush and not the scanner, and it made me rather concerned that I could see the twin reflections of the urtal's eyes following _me_.

_Oh crap_. I turned my laser sight on and fixed it right between them.

Then Shadow let out a challenge roar that sent all of my soggy hairs standing straight up and made the eyes turn away from me. I didn't waste any time and opened fire just as the urtal moved. The muzzle flash from the short burst blinded my vision through the goggles and I heard the cat scream. Then I could hear and feel Shadow rushing through the undergrowth. The urtal was still making horrible sounds, and by the time my sight had returned it was silent. I cautiously approached the area and found Shadow in full panther form crouched over the urtal. I raised my goggles and turned on the flashlight attached to the P90. The bullets had stitched a line along its neck and shoulder and side, but I could see its throat had been torn out and that that had been the killing blow. Shadow squinted at me, and in one fluid movement went from panther to half form. He was still crouched down, but now his forearms were resting on his knees. And he was smiling. It was a lot like a dog smile – it showed lots of red stained teeth – but his eyes crinkled up and made it a lot less, well, scary.

"The pelt is in good condition – it is yours if you wish," he said.

"Let me think about that," I said. I ran a hand down my face and let out an airy laugh. Seeing it up close was making me realize just how fucking _stupid_ I was for coming out here, but I wasn't going to admit that to anybody. "Holy shit, that thing's huge." I think it was bigger than the one that killed Nixta, and I had a sudden urge to fire a few more bullets in it for her.

Shadow pried open the cat's mouth and inspected its very big saber teeth. "It's a young male, maybe three years old. Probably trying to establish its own territory." He let go of the urtal's head and stood up. I had just a quick enough glance to see that in that half form, some parts were still recognizably human. I turned the flashlight off and raised my goggles to save me from seeing any more details. I took me a moment to realize there was enough murky light now that I could see outlines but no details, and that was just fine by me at the moment.

Shadow growled and I saw teeth flash. "This is _my_ territory," he said. He turned around, faced the jungle, then leaned back and roared. The volume was incredible, and I swear it made my guts vibrate. Then he stomped towards the section of brush the urtal had come from and from the way he stood it was obvious he was remarking his territory.

I blinked a few times then had to turn around and clamp my lips together, and for just a brief second I almost considered joining him. But I stood with my back to him and just kept an eye on my scanner until he finished. I turned back when he rejoined me and saw he had retrieved his belt and loincloth. He gestured towards me. "May I use your knife?" he asked. I handed it to him and he started cutting lengths of ground vines to braid together for a short rope. It didn't take us long to get two decent lengths together, and I was glad for the rain when we started dragging the urtal back to the gate – the mud and wet foliage made the several hundred pounds of dead weight slide easier. And the murky pre-dawn light certainly made my navigation easier since I didn't have to rely on those awkward goggles.

I was still pretty damn tired by the time we got to the village gate, and it didn't surprise me at all to see Major Lorne and the two Marines in the Jumper. I had a feeling they were just getting ready to go look for me, and the surprised looks on their faces were priceless. I clearly saw Lorne mouth _what the fuck_? Shadow had switched back to human form when we started our drag, and we were both dripping wet and splattered with mud. The rain had also washed the blood off of Shadow's face and chest during our trek as well, and I was glad – it was a little freaky knowing he ripped the thing's throat out with his teeth. We stopped right in front of the Jumper and took a breather. Well, I took a breather – the kid was hardly winded. Lorne and his men boiled out of the back of the Jumper and before they could say anything I spoke first. "Lieutenant, thanks for the concern, but I told you everything was fine," I said and frowned. Morales took a sudden interest in his boots. I turned my frown towards Lorne. "Major, going somewhere?"

"Uh, um, no, sir," he said. "We heard, uh, noises." He turned on his flashlight, shined it on the dead urtal, and drew back a step. "Um, are you _sure_ everything is all right, sir?"

Well, now _that_ was a loaded question considering the events of the last fourteen hours. I glanced at Shadow and suddenly realized that it just wasn't freaking me out any more. It was still surreal, especially since he was looking at me calmly at the moment, and I'd wager I had the same expression on my face. I turned my attention back to Lorne. "It is now," I said as a big grin lit my face. Shadow chuffed and smiled smugly. Then before the Major could recover we glanced at each other and started dragging the urtal toward the gate. Once inside the wall we unwrapped the vines from around our shoulders, and Kintu and his boys took over. Shadow spoke briefly with them before we dragged our soggy asses back to the Temple, and by now it was light enough we could see the path under the trees and through the village. Lorne, Ferguson, and Morales kept a respectful distance behind us.


	4. IV: Do Not Feed The Scientists

_A/N: Apologies for the wee l'il chapter. But do not fret - the next one is a massive bugger ... :)_

**IV: Do Not Feed The Scientists**

As I climbed the steps to the Temple my stomach growled. I glanced at my watch and saw that breakfast had already come by Atlantis standards, so I just fished a Powerbar out of my vest for a McKay early bird special. All that was missing was cold coffee that could strip the finish off a Jumper. Shadow glanced sideways at me. "We do have real food here," he said.

"Have you tried these?" I asked and held it towards him. "It's chocolate. Everyone likes chocolate."

Shadow sniffed and wrinkled his nose. "I will get you some real food." Then he made a bee line for the fountain, stepped up on the rim, and just hopped in. The water barely came up to his knees and he walked under the falling water and stood there for a moment, head down, before he started scrubbing mud from his legs.

I just stood in the atrium and dripped while I chewed the last of my bar. I was seriously considering doing the same thing when Lorne came up beside me. He had his lips pinched together but a glare from me sobered him up quickly. "I, ah, have a dry set of clean clothes you can borrow, sir," Lorne said and turned his back to the fountain.

"Thank you, Major," I said.

"Morales was here yesterday morning when he came in, did the same thing," Lorne said. "I was with the Jumper at the time. I guess Dr. Brown let out quite the startled scream when he stepped out of the fountain." His cheek twitched.

I narrowed my eyes.

"I'll, uh, get those clothes now, sir," he said, did an about face, and double timed it to the lift.

I followed at a slower, _squishier_ pace. Shadow came out of the fountain as I passed it and gave his head a shake. Water flew everywhere and I had a brief flashback to Ronon on our last trip. Then he joined me and we left twin soggy trails down the hall.

We met Lorne in the foyer with the smaller fountain, then Shadow showed me to a room ready for visitors a few doors down from his own so I could clean up and change. He excused himself and disappeared back into the depths of the complex for breakfast. I took a moment to break down and dry my weapons before I headed into the bathroom. My lack of sleep nearly caught up with me in the shower and I found myself dozing on my feet a few times under the warm spray. I finally dragged myself out, dressed in the borrowed clothes that made me feel like I was wearing a big brother's hand-me-downs, and wandered out barefoot to the foyer to see what there was to eat.

Lorne was nowhere to be seen, but Teyla and Katie were up and sitting on the floor by the low table near the fountain. It had several huge baskets sitting on it filled with fruit and leftovers from last night's feast. As I loaded a piece of flat bread down with cold Jubjub for an impromptu taco I nodded at them. Teyla was her usual cool, unflappable smiling self, but Katie looked a little green around the gills. "You okay, Doc?" I said as I sat down cross-legged and leaned against the fountain. "You look a little …."

"Queasy," Katie finished. "I think I had a little too much of that drink last night." She rubbed her forehead. "And I'm not going to bother Carson for some Tylenol – he's worse than a mother hen."

Teyla noticed my baggy clothes and high water pants and raised an eyebrow. "You look tired, Colonel."

I had to finish chewing and swallowing before I could answer. "Couldn't sleep, wound up helping Shadow with a little 'housecleaning' project outside last night," I said. I shoved more food in my mouth so I wouldn't have to explain any more. She made a little _hmm_ noise and went back to her fruit.

I heard something to my left and turned my head in time to see Rodney wander in from the hall. He was scratching his chin and looking pretty groggy until he saw the food. Then he lit up, went _oooo_, and promptly set about making his own Jubjub taco. He grabbed a few of the stubby alien bananas and plopped down next to me. Before he took a bite he leaned over and whispered, "Are there any feathers in my hair this time?"

I checked the back of his head. "Nope, you're clean," I whispered back around a mouthful.

I heard the lift doors open and Shadow appeared a moment later balancing a flat basket with clay cups in one hand and holding a large brightly painted clay pitcher in the other. He set the cups on the table and just filled the pitcher with water burbling out of the top of the fountain. After he filled the cups he passed them out. Rodney and I both paused over ours, but Teyla and Katie drank without any hesitation so I figured what came out of the top of the fountain was clean.

"I would kill for some coffee," Rodney mumbled after he drank his entire cup down. Then instead of getting up and grabbing the pitcher, he reached over the lip of the fountain and just refilled it again with what was cascading down from above. He succeeded in soaking his arm and splashing us both in the process.

"I've heard the others mention coffee," Shadow said as he grabbed a sizeable chunk of meat. "What is coffee?" he asked and took a big bite.

"It's a drink of the Gods highly revered by all geeks," Rodney said. "If none is available, Mountain Dew and Red Bull will suffice in a pinch."

Shadow cocked his head as he chewed and Teyla said, "It is a hot drink with stimulating qualities these people drink in the morning."

Shadow drew his lips in and lifted his eyebrows in an expression that was so like the one I make everyone looked at me for a second. He swallowed and got Rodney's attention when he said, "We have a fruit that offers a similar function."

"You, you do?" Rodney said and sounded so pathetically hopeful I tried to swallow wrong and started coughing. I waved off the concerned glances my way and drank some water once I could breathe again.

Shadow picked through a basket and pulled out something that looked like a green peach without the fuzz and tossed it to Rodney. "Peel it, don't eat the seeds."

"Is it citrus?" Rodney asked as he studied the decidedly citrus-like fruit. Shadow shook his head but Rodney still looked dubious.

"Rodney," Katie said and shook her sadly. "He knows what every plant in a thirty mile radius of this facility is; I'm pretty sure he knows if it's citrus or not." Then she glanced at him and blushed faintly at the little smile he gave her in return. He took his breakfast and sat down cross-legged on some reed mats by the wall opposite everyone. Katie was still watching him when he sat. She gasped faintly, turned beet red, and suddenly became very interested in her water.

Yeah, sitting like that in a loincloth doesn't leave a whole hell of a lot to the imagination. Then Teyla had the gall to glance at me and smirk and I felt my own ears get a little warm.

Rodney sputtered, but he didn't drop anything. But he did send an absolutely vitriolic sneer towards Shadow before he dug into his taco. He devoured that puppy in record time then attacked the green fruit. The second he pulled a section of thick peel away the smell of soggy corn chips filled the air. "A fruit should not smell like that," he said as he pulled more peel away and grimaced. Pretty soon he had a pale lavender orb in his hand. He sniffed it closely before taking a hesitant crunchy bite. "Huh," he said as he chewed thoughtfully. "Doesn't taste like stale Fritos. Tastes … kind of like a cashew." He took another bite and exposed a black seed the size of a raisin. Then we all heard a loud crunch and he spit out another. "Oh, man – I hope that didn't break a tooth." He made a few goofy faces as he felt around with his tongue. Then he went back to chewing, and after a second of holding the seed he just set it on the lip of the fountain. By the time he was done there were five of them sitting there and Rodney had definitely perked up. "Huh, it feels like I just drank a quad mocha espresso." He held a hand up and waggled his fingers. "My gums are tingling." He pointed at the basket. "Um, are there any more?"

"Yes," Shadow said hesitantly. I swear Rodney was at the table and digging through the basket before he finished the word. "But do not eat more than two – there can be painful gastro-intestinal side effects."

Rodney looked at Shadow, five of the things in his hands. "Um." He glanced down and you could see he was debating whether or not to drop some back into the basket, or if a bad case of farts and cramps would be worth the buzz.

"I'll take one," I said. I needed a kick after two hours of sleep.

Rodney tossed me one, then dropped one back in the basket. He caught a frown from Katie and he grimaced guiltily. "One is for me, the others are for Radek when he gets up. He will probably need them."

"Will need what?" Zelenka said thickly and he dragged into the room. Oh man, he looked like hell. His usual wispy hair was really trying to do its best Einstein imitation and his eyes were barely open slits behind his specs. And he had his shirt on inside out.

"These," Rodney said and tossed the fruit at him. They bounced off Zelenka's chest, and you could tell by the way he watched them roll on the floor he was thinking there was absolutely no way in hell he was going to bend down and pick them up.

"I can barely stand – can barely speak English - and you assault me with alien limes," Zelenka said. He squinted at Rodney. "What, no alien watermelon to loft my way? Or is that being saved for grand finale with alien Sledge-O-Matic?"

Rodney rolled his eyes and picked them up. Then he grabbed one of Zelenka's hands and put them in it. "Here. Since there are no Starbucks in the Pegasus Galaxy – which really truly surprises me since they pop up faster on Earth than zits on a fourteen-year-old – these are the closest you're going to get. Peel them, don't eat the seeds." Then he looked at Shadow. "Um, just out of curiosity - what happens if you eat the seeds?"

"They make all your hair fall out," Shadow replied, and I was the only one in the room who caught the subtle crinkle of his eyes that said he was lying through his pointy teeth. I had to hide my grin behind my first nutty bite. He caught my expression, and quickly took a bite of his own breakfast.

Zelenka and Rodney both eyed the fruit. Then they eyed me.

Okay, I did not like that, not one bit. I swallowed. "If I suddenly have strange things show up in my shampoo or soap, there will be hell to pay." I lowered my voice and gave them my best attempt yet at Shadow's growly tone. "Hell. Complete and utter." I could see Teyla and Katie hide grins behind hands.

"Eh, too much work," Zelenka said and shrugged. Then winced.

"Naw, too easy a target," Rodney said with a crooked grimace. "Too bad Kavanaugh left. But Ronon …."

"He'll shoot you," I said. "Multiple times and without hesitation."

Zelenka nodded and held a hand to his forehead and squeezed his temples. "What I cannot understand is how something so smooth can kick like enraged mule team next morning." He squinted at Shadow. "I must speak with brewers, learn secret."

Shadow grinned. "Drink water, it will help."

"Drink water," Zelenka muttered as he picked up a full cup. "Drink water. The kid with hair like startled hedgehog and a phobia of pants tells me to drink water." He drank the one cup down. "Like I am rookie - have not had experience with this before," he continued as he shambled over to the fountain. He refilled his cup much more gracefully than Rodney did and sat down carefully on the lip of the fountain.

Then we all glanced at Shadow. If he was offended by Zelenka's comments, it didn't show. In fact, he had a slightly curious scowl as he reached up and patted his hair – it was just dry enough now it sprung right back up. Then he just frowned faintly and went back to his breakfast.

Rodney just about choked as he turned around. When he sat back down he muttered, "Oh, man, for want of a camera, and my vest is back in my room."

"Then I would really have to hurt you," I mumbled through the last bite of my coffee substitute. Those things had to have one hell of a kick because I was already feeling the jolt. And here Rodney was starting on his second. Yeah, we'll be peeling him off the ceiling later. As I drank some water myself I looked a little closer at Shadow's hair and realized it was all the same length and really did look more like a pelt it was so thick. Huh. I was trying to remember if it stood on end when he was in his half form when I got distracted by the lift opening. Pretty soon we had quite the little crowd as Carson and his people joined us.

The first thing Carson did was stop in front of me, sigh heavily, and frown. Then he glanced at Shadow, gave him just as dark a scowl, then he closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "Are you bloidy daft, Colonel? You could have gotten killed. Both of you."

The only sound in the room was the burbling fountain. _Ah, the mother hen spoke to Lorne, or was it the other way around?_ I thought and casually finished my water.

Then Shadow broke the silence with a chuff. "We weren't in any danger," he said rather testily.

_Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid,_ I thought. _But yeah, we were and I was an idiot for running out there._ Of course I would never admit that to him. And I would do it all again in a heartbeat, too. Man, am I screwed up or what?

"Great," Carson said and flapped his arms. "This proves it – a death wish is hereditary."

"What is he talking about?" Rodney said in like a half second, flat.

Carson regarded Rodney for a moment before he said, "These two macho idiots went out hunting saber tooth tigers in the middle of the bloidy night."

"It was just one," I said a little more sheepishly than I intended.

"And it wasn't a frivolous hunt, Doctor," Shadow said, and his voice had that growling undertone that made all eyes turn to him. "When this village is threatened it is my _duty_ to protect it _and_ any guests I may have. If that compulsion is hereditary, then I am proud to have it." He finished the sentence with his chin up and his lip drawn up enough on one side to show a hint of fang.

_That's my boy!_ I thought and found myself grinning. Then the grin froze when I realized what I just thought.

"I am certain the Colonel would have done the same thing should our roles have been reversed."

"Oh, wonderful," Rodney muttered. "Now there are _two_ of the overprotective self destructive martyrs in the universe."

"He's right, McKay," I said quietly. "And you know it, too." I glanced at Teyla and saw her nod faintly. Yeah, as a leader and warrior she understood perfectly. And from the way Carson sighed right then he understood, too, as much as he hated to admit it.

Rodney nodded spastically, then he kind of twitched and glanced back and forth between Shadow and me a few times. One hand lifted and he repeated the back and forth with a point. "Wait a minute. Saber tooth …. You two went after one of those things that, that killed …. Um, by yourselves? In the dark? Really?"

The scowl Carson gave him clearly telegraphed _do__ NOT encourage them._

I admit it - my smile was pretty smug when I nodded, up until the point Rodney smacked the back of my head. "Hey!"

"Thank you, Rodney," Carson said. He just glanced back and forth between me and Shadow and sighed in pure exasperation, but when he heard the quiet growl he whirled around.

Shadow had his attention fixed on Rodney and was in that intent, utterly still mode. His eyes were even slightly dilated as a shadow rippled across his face and down his neck. Jeez, he was reacting as if Rodney had smacked him. Well, in a way ….

Zelenka said something, and I think I just learned the Czech equivalent of _holy shit_.

I held up a hand. "Hey, it's okay." I glanced at Rodney – he was pale and his eyes were huge. But that could have been from the fruit he just ate. "Apologize to the kid, McKay," I said through the side of my mouth.

"Um …." Rodney swallowed. "Why?" I was about to say _because I think you just insulted him_ when the shadow rippled down his arms and Rodney blurted out, "Sorry."

Everyone was watching Shadow, and when he finally took in a deep breath and sighed we all relaxed. He nodded to Rodney but wouldn't meet his eyes, and I could tell he was a little embarrassed by his over-reaction. Then he stood abruptly and Carson backed up and almost stepped on me. "I need to check on Xili," he said. "Excuse me." Then he shoved the last of his breakfast in his mouth and kind of _stalked_ towards the lift, head down. Carson's people backed out of his way, but Nurse Carrie leaned around Jamie and watched him, her head slightly cocked. Only after the lift doors closed on Shadow's back did she turn her head toward me and give me an appraising lift of an eyebrow before she sat down by Katie.

I just shook my head and sighed.

Zelenka leaned over and said in a mock whisper, "Rodney, make note to self: no assaulting Colonel in were-cat's presence. May prove hazardous to health."

"Shut up," Rodney grumbled. Then he did a double take. "At least I know how to dress myself."

Zelenka looked down, just went _huh_, and kept chewing his alien coffee.

Carson scratched at his perma-stubbled cheek and frowned worriedly. Then he glanced down at me. "All right, I'll give him the benefit of a doubt, but you, Colonel?" He squinted at me. "How much sleep did you get before that fool's errand?"

I wasn't tired now as I shrugged. "A few hours," I answered. "The kid needed someone to watch his six."

"I'd watch his six any time," Carrie muttered in a throaty voice that made my ears go red. I was glad Carson's legs were between us so she couldn't see. Katie giggled, and Rodney and Carson both rolled their eyes and their shoulders slumped in unison. I saw Teyla cover her mouth and heard Jamie snort.

"His six is certainly easy to see," Zelenka said. "As well as his three, his nine, not to mention his …."

"All right, all right - enough all ready!" I said. "Jesus!" I leaned forward and laced my hands behind my head and rested my elbows on my knees as everyone laughed.

Carson sighed. "Sorry, Colonel, but if we don't find some humor …."

"We'd all be screaming and running to Heightmeyer," Rodney finished.

I lowered my hands and turned my head towards him. "And if they had cloned _you_ her appointment book would be bursting into flames right about now," I shot right back.

Zelenka made an appreciative grunt.

Rodney's head snapped up, and before he could open his mouth I changed the subject. "So, what's the plan today?" I growled as I leaned back and crossed my arms.

"We'll be heading back tae start the lab work," Carson said as he wandered over to the food and looked it over before he picked up some of the flat bread.

"Oh, don't let me forget," Zelenka said around a mouthful before he swallowed. "I have disk for you – very interesting."

"I'm sending my samples back with Carson," Katie said. "I'm going to ask Dr. Weir to send over Simmons and Yamamoto – I know they'll want to see the hydroponics set up."

"I will stay to interpret," Teyla added. "And Major Lorne and his men will remain as well once they shuttle everyone to the Stargate."

"I, too, will be staying," Zelenka said. "The shield system is incredibly complicated – need more time to analyze and map." Then he fixed his now less squinty gaze on Rodney. "No, I do not require assistance. Is under control." He made a shooing motion with both hands. "Go back to Atlantis, find what Ancients and Replicators have messed with and fix."

Rodney started to protest, but at the mention of the Replicators he got that pissy, crooked grimace. "Like I was doing before I was interrupted," he said and turned that grimace towards me.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, message boy – it's all my fault." I snorted. "How much longer will you be here?" I asked and glanced between Katie and Zelenka.

"Maybe couple more days," he said. Katie nodded.

"Okay," I said and got to my feet. "Rodney and I will meet you down in the atrium when you're ready, Doc, and help lug equipment."

"Thank you, Colonel," Carson said and his dimples appeared briefly as Rodney started to protest. As usual. And I could still hear him grumbling as I passed the second door in the hallway.


	5. V: Mr Sheppard's Neighborhood

_A/N: Now for the long bugger ... All together now, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhooooooood ..." :)_

**V: Mr. Sheppard's Neighborhood**

We were loading Katie's sample boxes into the Jumper when Shadow joined us. I stood back and let the Marines finish, and as I wiped sweat from my face I wondered what all Katie had in the box I lugged from the Temple. There was no way in hell plant clippings weighed _that_ much.

"You are leaving?" Shadow asked me. His eyebrows were slightly crooked up in the center and it wasn't hard to read the disappointment there.

"Yeah, duty calls," I said. "You know how that is."

Shadow nodded a bit sadly.

Carson came out of the Jumper at the sound of Shadow's voice. "Ah, Shadow," he said as he came down the ramp. "How is Xili doing?"

"She is doing well," Shadow replied with a faint smile. "She is resting with her family now, and they promised to make sure she does nothing strenuous until she is well." Then he ducked his head. "Thank you for your help."

Carson waved that off. "It's all part of _my_ duty, lad. Think nothing of it."

Lorne stuck his head out of the Jumper. "Sir? I think we'll have to make two trips with all this." He paused a moment when he saw Shadow and I was surprised he kept a straight face. "We'll take this over to the 'Gate, then come back for passengers."

"Sounds good, Major." I glanced around. "Not everyone is here yet, anyway." Rodney was late, as usual. He begged out of helping carrying stuff by saying he needed to go over some data with Zelenka. "We'll be here."

"Very good, sir," Lorne said, and by God if that little twitchy smirk didn't come back before he ducked back inside.

Carrie came out a moment later and the hatch closed. "The boys will unload," she said and gave Shadow a discreet once over.

I rolled my eyes as I turned around to move closer to the village gate. We all stood under the lintel to keep the light drizzle off our heads and watched the Jumper rise up through the canopy and disappear.

Shadow was watching it intently. He shook his head. "Kintu still wants to know where its feathers are," he said. "I've tried to explain how it flies, but …." He shrugged. "I finally just told him it was 'magic' and he accepted it."

I snorted. "Hey, kid – how'd you like to come visit my village?" I blurted out. It had been going through my head since breakfast, and I asked before I could have any second thoughts.

Shadow lit up. "Really?"

Carson about swallowed his tongue, and Carrie's eyes got huge.

Then Shadow deflated. "I couldn't – can't. I have to watch …."

"Aw, I'm sure Lorne and his boys could protect your people for a day, two at the most."

Carson finally found his voice. "Are yae sure that's a good idea?"

I shrugged. "He's been a gracious host for us. Twice now, if you think about it. I think it's about time we returned the favor." Then I turned partially to Carson. "And all visitors have to have a physical," I reminded him. Then I mouthed _full work-up._

Carson's eyebrows shot up. Then he smiled at Shadow. "I think that's an excellent idea. You should come visit, lad."

"And see the ocean," I added. Good God – when had I become so good at pushing people's buttons? Oh, wait – shortly after I met Rodney, that's when. It's become a survival instinct.

Shadow was looking torn until I said 'ocean'. Then he grinned like he did last night and showed both sets of fangs. Carrie gasped, and I don't think it was because of the pointy teeth. Now that I was on the receiving end, I could see why I got the same reaction to that smile. "I will need to let Kenje know. And Kintu. I will be right back." He started to jog off, but stopped and came back. "Do I need to bring anything?"

I was trying really hard not to laugh he looked so excited. "Naw, we got ya covered." _Well, not literally, anyway_, I thought.

Shadow nodded and took off in a fast jog just shy of a full out run.

When I turned back to Carson I found the doctor grinning so wide his dimples were showing. "He's like a kid at Christmas," he said. "Elizabeth is going to have whole bloidy herd when she sees him in his little … ah, that may be a problem." Carson's grin faded, but not entirely. "We better give her a warning."

"Why? You didn't warn me," I said and watched him squirm.

Carson coughed. "Ah, yes, but here we could keep it _contained_," he said. "As soon as he steps through the 'Gate, there's going tae be chaos."

My eyes got a little wide. "Oh." I grimaced as images started going through my head. I had my soggy, muddy clothes tied up in a bundle and strapped to my back in place of a backpack. Too late to get those cleaned up for him to borrow. "I didn't really think that part through," I said sheepishly.

"Obviously."

"How bad can it be, really?" I said with my hands raised. Carrie's little answering _giggle_ said tons. "Oh, God," I muttered and covered my eyes with both hands.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures taken so you can remember his visit," Carson said and patted me on the shoulder.

I ran my hands down to my mouth and glared at him. "Gee, thanks," I said through my fingers.

We could hear Rodney then as he approached, and when I turned around I saw he was just talking to himself. Well, griping, actually. His rant arrived about thirty seconds before he did.

"…Didn't say 'excuse me, coming through, pardon me, gang way, look out', nothing. Just barreled on by, hogging the whole damn path, like the entire Wraith fleet was after his spiky-haired mutant mostly bare ass and about knocked me on _my_ ass and God knows what's crawling around in that mud after all those bare feet and who knows what else." Rodney stopped when he saw us and pointed back the way he came. "Did you see what that rude little primitive …." His words trailed off when he realized we were all staring at him. "Uh, hey, guys, what's going on?"

The last time I heard Rodney talk that fast was when he was hopped up on Wraith enzyme. Carson remembered that fun little episode, too, and he stepped right up in front of him. "Rodney, look at me," he said in his stern, don't-give-me-crap doctor tone. Rodney did. "Oh, dear God – what have you been into? Your eyes are dilated."

"Nothing," Rodney said, twitched, and started chewing on his thumbnail.

"Jesus – you ate another one of those fruits didn't you?" I said.

"Um, no."

I raised my arms in exasperation. "McKay, you can't lie worth crap."

"Oh, all right, yes," Rodney snapped back. "But Zelenka made me do it."

Carson crossed his arms and I drawled out, "Riiight."

"He did! He ate a third one and said his exceptional Czech constitution could handle it, and my bland, wussy _generic_ Canadian one would probably self destruct if I even so much as thought about attempting such a manly act." He glanced back and forth between me and Carson and chewed on that abused thumbnail again. "Did I mention he ate a third one, too? Because he did, right in front of me."

Carson sighed. "No more caffeine for you for the next week." When Rodney started to protest he held up a finger. "Your blood pressure is bad enough as it is – God knows what havoc that fruit is doing to your system as we speak." When Rodney tried to speak again he said, "I will sedate you and have you pulled from active duty."

"Oh, I bet you'd just love to come after me with your little sheep tranquilizers."

"Actually, I'd just use a stunner," Carson said quite amicably. "Or have Ronon shoot you. Either way would work peachy for me." I just love the way his dimples come out when he says the word 'peachy' – it really does give it such an ominous tone.

"You would really like that, wouldn't you?" Rodney said. "Hippocratic oath, my ass. Should be hypocritical in your case."

Carson sighed.

I stepped between them and whispered to Rodney, "Don't forget what the Major said earlier – he has really big needles. And catheters. And Nurse Carrie over there is pretty good with a straight razor. Not great, but good."

That did it – Rodney's eyes got even wider and he started to behave. "You just had to bring that last one up, didn't you?" he whispered and grimaced. Yeah, apparently he's been a victim, too, and I think we were both fighting the urge to scratch. "By the way, where was Kirkzan off to in such a hurry?"

"He had an errand," I said through my teeth. Jesus, does he lay awake at night and try to come up with names, or is there some part of his brain solely dedicated to that little process only?

Rodney just went _huh_ and pulled a disk case out of his pocket. "This is from Zelenka," he said as he handed it to Carson. "It's from the clone room. He thought you'd find it interesting – it's Shadow's DNA profile and breakdown of the genetic enhancements."

Carson took it. "I will, but I'm still going tae do a full work-up when we get back …."

"He's coming back to Atlantis with us?" Rodney blurted out. He looked at me. "Are you insane? Wait, wait, wait – no, disregard that. You are. Never mind." Then he giggled. "Oh man, I can't wait to see Weir's reaction. Oh, hey …." He pulled his portable DVR out of his vest and before he could check the batteries I confiscated it. "Hey!" He made a lunge for it but I spun out of his way. "You're not going to be able to get them all, you know."

_Crap_. "But this is one less," I said and crammed it in my vest.

Lorne returned with the Jumper a few minutes later, and before he settled I glanced down the village path to see if Shadow was on his way yet. Didn't see him. Lorne joined us a moment later. "Atlantis sent a couple mules over earlier this morning after check-in – Morales, Ferguson, and Kimball are loading them right now." He gestured toward the waiting Jumper. "Ready when you are."

"We're still waiting for one more," I said. I looked at the others. "You can go ahead if you want."

"Shotgun," Rodney called and took off.

We all watched him duck inside the Jumper. Carson sighed. "I think I'm going to slip a Valium into his pudding when we get back."

"That would probably be a good idea," I said.

"Who are we waiting for, sir? Is Dr. Z coming back with us?" Lorne asked.

"Um, someone else," I said.

"Here he comes," Carrie said and smiled somewhat distractedly.

We all turned and watched Shadow come jogging back up to the gate. He'd taken the time to change, and his new loincloth actually contained a little more honest to God cloth than the last. It was white and embroidered with black and red designs similar to Kintu's tattoos, and the ends of the cloth draped over his belt and hung almost to mid thigh. He stopped, his breath coming fairly hard from his run, and took a moment before he spoke. "I have spoken with Kenje – if there is any emergency he will speak with Teyla, and she said she will contact us through the 'Gate if needed. And Kintu and his hunters will keep watch for any more urtal sign."

"Good," I said and turned to Lorne. His eyes were huge, and he had his lips pressed shut so tight the skin around them was actually white. "Major, while Shadow is with us, you and your men are to assist these villagers in any way that is needed. Understood?" When Lorne didn't reply right away I cleared my throat and repeated, "Understood?"

"Um, yes. Sir," Lorne replied. Then he looked at me, did an abrupt about face, and about two steps later I heard one short, strangled laugh.

"I heard that."

Lorne reacted like I'd kicked him in the ass and he shot into the Jumper.

Carson chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. "Get used to it," he said as he and Carrie headed for the Jumper.

I sighed and motioned for Shadow to follow them. The kid entered the Jumper cautiously, and as he walked through the rear compartment he kept reaching out and touching different things as he passed. Thank God he wasn't sniffing things, too. Carson and Carrie were both watching him with amused smiles on their faces. When he got to the cockpit I gestured for him to take the seat behind the co-pilot's. Rodney was already seated behind Lorne and had one helluva crooked smirk on his face. Lorne deliberately stayed focused on his controls while I sat down. I turned a little in my seat, looked back at Shadow, and noticed his pupils were slightly dilated. When Lorne fired up the Jumper they dilated fully and I realized he was nervous about flying. "Hey, don't worry about it – you won't even be able to tell we've left the ground in this baby."

Shadow swallowed hard and offered a weak smile.

I turned back around and said to Lorne, "No fancy stuff, Major."

"Yes, sir," he said and carefully brought us up out of the canopy. Then he brought the Jumper around in a sweeping arc that I thought was pretty damn gentle, but apparently not to Shadow.

"Holy crap!" Rodney blurted out at the same time Carson said, "Dear lord," and Carrie gasped. Lorne glanced back briefly, did a perfect double-take, said "Holy fuck!" and promptly lost control of the Jumper.

Shadow had shifted and had his claws buried into the arms of the seat. He had his mouth open and was panting very rapidly. His eyes were solid black and fixed straight ahead, and I couldn't even tell he had ears they were pressed so tight against his skull.

"Major!" I shouted and was about to take control of the Jumper when Lorne snapped back around. He brought it up just in time, but he still clipped the top off a tree and damn near winged the top of a pyramid before he leveled out again. Even with the inertial dampeners we still felt the short ride. "Eyes forward!" I snapped and Lorne kind of guiltily hunkered down over the controls.

Shadow took a second to close his mouth and swallow before drool ran out. "That was not … natural," he said and resumed panting.

That made me wonder if the kid was more sensitive to movement than we were. I unlocked the chair's base and swiveled it around at the same time Carson stepped forward and placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder. "There now, lad," he said as he knelt down next to the chair. "We'll be landing in a moment." He glanced back into the rear compartment. "Find me a bag before he hyperventilates himself into unconsciousness." Carrie was already doing that.

In the meantime I held my hands up to block Shadow's view out the windscreen. "Don't look out there – look here," I said and pointed at my eyes. I saw his focus shift and a second later actually saw a little rim of green return.

Carrie snapped open an air-sickness bag Ford had stocked as a joke a long time ago and handed it to Carson, who in turn held it up to Shadow's muzzle. "Breathe into this, it will help."

Shadow managed to unbury his right hand from the armrest and held onto the bag. His claws were damn impressive up close – they were nearly three inches long and the tips were so sharp they were practically clear. Carson pulled his hand back quickly and just rested it lightly on Shadow's other arm. His breathing didn't slow until we were actually sitting on top of the Great Pyramid for nearly a minute, and when his ears finally rotated forward and we could see more green than black in his eyes, he lowered the bag. "You lied," he said and swallowed again. "I felt that." He blinked slowly and Carson and I both saw a third eyelid close as well. "I don't like being held down," he said softly.

I straightened a little and glanced at Rodney when he made a surprised grunt. "You felt the inertial dampeners kick in?" he said. "Holy crap! What did it feel like?"

"Like a thick wet weight pressing down on me," he said quietly. I felt my stomach get cold even before he said, "It brought back memories. I am sorry."

"The White Room," I said back just as quietly and patted his arm. I could feel tense, corded muscles under the surprisingly soft fur. "Don't worry about it, kid."

"We dinnae know," Carson added and took the bag from him. "We'll take it easier next time," he said and flashed a frown towards Lorne. We both did, and Lorne shrank.

"I will be better next time," Shadow said and relaxed his other hand. When the claws retracted it made his fingers look shortened and oddly thickened and definitely more paw-like. "It caught me … off guard." Then he did this thing with his ears where they actually _drooped_. "Sorry." Even his whiskers drooped as he lowered his head a little.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed," I said with a faint smile and fought the urge to ruffle the fur on the top of his head. That would just be too weird. "Hell, I think Rodney damn near puked on his first Jumper flight."

"I did not!" he shot back. "That was Hodges."

"Are you sure?" I asked. I glanced at Rodney and could tell he wasn't pissed but going along with me to get Shadow to relax.

"Most definitely," he replied in mock indignation. "We have a similar hair-line. That's what probably confused you."

Shadow's ears twitched and he made a very soft chuff. Then he closed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and between the third and fourth one the fur retreated and his face shifted. I almost expected there to be squishy or crunchy noises of some sort, but I chalked that up to all the cheesy horror movies I've seen. Carson's eyes were huge, but it was more from fascination than from anything else. Carrie gasped again and held a hand to her mouth, but her expression was just as amazed as Carson's.

Lorne let out a surprised grunt, and Rodney said, "That is just so … cool!"

_Yeah, it is_, I thought and grinned as Shadow opened his eyes. I was happy to see a lot more green/gold than black this time. He offered a lopsided and still slightly embarrassed grin to all of us. "All better?" He nodded and I patted him on the arm again before I swung my chair back around. The first thing I saw was some leaves and a few small branches stuck to the windscreen, and two worried Marines and a med tech staring at us from behind the DHD. "Clean those off before you take off again, Major," I said as I got out of the chair.

"Yes, sir," Lorne replied guiltily.

Carson and Carrie were on either side of Shadow as we exited the Jumper, and I heard Carson ask, "If you don't mind my asking, son – how do yae do that?"

Shadow shrugged. "I just … do it."

"Does it hurt?" Carrie asked.

"It did at first, but not anymore."

"And it's completely controlled?" Carson said.

He nodded. "Except when I'm stressed, or startled, then my fur tries to come out. Then that just happens," he said.

"Horripilation," Carson said.

My brain was trying to formulate some smart-assed comment about prostitutes when Rodney said, "Goose pimples?"

Carson stopped and turned around. "My God – you actually sullied your brain with a medical term? Let me guess – you only learned it in relation to some gloriously over the top insult."

Rodney nodded and twitched. "Horripilative had a really good ring to it."

I shook my head. Yep, he must have a section of his brain fully dedicated to insults and names. I could almost see his brain, years from now, in some jar in some prestigious institute's lab, and there on the side of it a tiny little area with a flashing warning sign saying, _prod at own risk, contents highly volatile._

Carson just shook his head and sighed. "Go dial the 'Gate," he said. He went over to Jamie and the Marines and gave the various boxes and equipment a once over. Carrie and Shadow had wandered over by the mules and I saw the kid give her a little grin accompanied by a slight lift of his chin that made her blush.

"Oh, Jesus," Rodney muttered as he dialed home a little more forcefully than he needed to. "We're not even on Atlantis yet and his Kirk gene is kicking in. I would have thought that all the other splicing and manipulating would have put a kibosh on it, but no, turns out there are _two_ things in the universe more common than hydrogen – stupidity and flirting."

As the stargate came to life I glanced over at Rodney. He was in turn glaring at Shadow and Carrie. I turned my attention back to them, and you know – I never really noticed it before, but Nurse Carrie could almost be Katie Brown's blonde sister. "You're jealous," I said as I looked back at Rodney.

"I am no such thing," he snapped back, then continued under his breath. "I'm, I'm, I'm … horrified. Absolutely horrified that the universe has two of you gallivanting around and hitting on space bimbos. We should call ahead to Weir, have her put all the women – and a few of the men, especially Henderson over in bio – into isolation. The pheromones from you two are going to wreak utter havoc. I can hear all the uncontrolled giggling and see the glazed over eyes now. It's going to take the scrubbers _days_ to get everything out of air and everyone back to clear-eyed coherency."

"What in God's name are you prattling on about now?" Carson said as he approached the DHD.

Suddenly Rodney stopped and looked up sheepishly. "Um, was that out loud?"

"Yes," I said and grinned at Carson. "He's jealous."

"I am no such thing!" he said with a defiant jut of his jaw.

"And obviously paranoid from way too much of that caffeine equivalent," Carson said. "Why did yae have to go and eat a third one, Rodney? Why?"

"'Cuz Radek called him a pussy," I said, my grin making my cheeks hurt.

"Excuse me, he used the term 'wussy'. Leave it to you to change one letter …."

"Enough, children!" Carson said. "Let's go home." He stomped over to the mules and he and Jamie took the remotes from the Marines. They walked next to them up to the stargate. He waved at Carrie to join them, and a few seconds later they were gone.

Shadow walked up to within a few feet of the stargate and stopped. We joined him just as rain started to fall. "You nervous?" I asked him.

Shadow was staring at the liquid crystal matrix, his eyebrows faintly raised in the center. He glanced at me. "No, not really. I know what it is, what it does, but …." He shrugged. "Does it hurt?"

I flashed back to my first time in front of the 'Gate, and Ford's reply to my exact same question. Damn, I missed that kid. Shadow read my expression wrong and I saw his eyes start to dilate. "Naw, it doesn't," I said, my voice a little thick.

"It tingles a little," Rodney said. "But it's over before you know it." Then he stepped through, no doubt to get the best seat for the reactions to come.

We stood there a few seconds more. "Ready?" Shadow nodded and took a deep breath before we stepped through. He did stumble a little on the other side, but I think it was more from surprise than from actual loss of balance. He looked at me, his eyes faintly dilated, and grinned. "See, not so bad," I said rather smugly.

"No, it wasn't," Shadow replied, then he got distracted by Atlantis. He took a hesitant step forward, paused, then took another and slowly started to turn in a slow circle as he walked away from the 'Gate and took in the size of the room. The 'Gate shut down a moment later and as I walked over to join him it suddenly dawned on me how _quiet_ it was. Even during graveyard you can still hear things – the shuffle of restless bodies, of paper, the clicking of keyboards, the occasional creak of an office chair – but right now it was utterly still. I glanced to the side and saw Rodney hugging his computer and rocking back and forth on his heels, a demented crooked smile of absolute insane _joy_ lighting his face as he watched the rest of the room.

I think that was when things sorta slowed down for me. I looked to Carson and his people at the end of the room and saw he had his arms crossed but one hand covering his smirk. Carrie was red and had her eyes half lidded, and Jamie was leaning back against one of the loads and mirroring the doc. I looked up, and the first person I saw was Elizabeth. She was standing at her usual spot at the railing, her mouth open in pure shock. _Huh, I don't think I've ever seen her look like that_, I thought absently.

The other techs were coming to the railing now, and everyone was focused on the exact same thing – Shadow, damp from the rain and pirouetting, giving everyone a really good view as he took in the sight around him like a kid in the universe's biggest candy store.

I was certain my ears were the color of Elizabeth's shirt when I said, "Hey, Elizabeth – we brought a visitor. This is Shadow, the new Guardian of the Nixtahuec." I turned my head briefly to Shadow and said in a surprisingly calm voice, "Shadow, this is Dr. Weir." I indicated where she was by a lift of my chin.

Shadow stopped, saw where my gaze was focused, and looked up at her. "Hello, Dr. Weir," he said, smiled faintly, and ducked his head in a little bow.

"Um, hello, Shadow," Elizabeth replied and white knuckled the railing.

That was when sound returned to the 'Gate Room with a vengeance, and if I had listened closely right then, I probably could have learned how to say _holy shit_ in at least three other languages. I saw somebody head out of the room at a fast walk, and a couple of the other techs had their hands to their ears as they spoke into their radios. Elizabeth was still frozen in place, but her mouth was drawn into a tight pale line. From this angle I couldn't tell for sure if she was pissed, or trying really hard not to laugh.

Rodney sauntered over to me and glanced around smugly. "Now _that_ was an entrance," he said. "I bet the security footage of that is going to be played with joy for years to come." He rose up onto his toes when he repeated, "Years. Lorne is going to be so sad he missed the live show."

"Shut up, Rodney," I said. I glanced over at Shadow and saw the kid was pretty unfazed by it all – his eyebrows were raised a little and he was watching everything with mild curiosity. He saw me looking at him and I motioned him to the stairs across from the 'Gate. He nodded and we both headed for them like everything was normal, like I wasn't in someone's borrowed clothes and walking side by side with my nearly naked shape-shifting clone. Yep, completely normal. Rodney fell into step next to me, and a second later Carson joined us.

"Are yae feeling all right, Colonel? You're looking a little peaked."

I glanced over my shoulder at Carson and all I could see was stubble and dimples. _Well, I guess that's better than lobster red_, I thought as I gave him a tight little smile. As we started up the stairs Rodney fell back a few steps, and the next thing I heard was him whisper to Carson, "Scoot over – you're blocking everyone's view."

"Oh, sorry," Carson said. And they both snorted.

That did it. I stopped when I got to the landing and swiveled around. My hands were sitting on the butt of my P90 and I gave it a pat as I focused on Rodney and smiled. "You know, accidentally shooting you in the foot right now would be so worth the brig time." When I turned back around I found Shadow studying Rodney, his head cocked slightly to one side.

Shadow stepped closer to Rodney and sniffed him from about a foot away. Rodney flinched and grimaced, and when Shadow frowned at him he backed down one step. "You ate another tinu, didn't you? I can smell it in your sweat." He chuffed disgustedly and looked at me. "Does he always ignore what people tell him?"

"Yes," Carson and I both said at the same time.

Some of Rodney's previous smugness was replaced with worry. "Um, what's going to happen?"

Shadow sniffed again. "You'll find out soon enough," he said. When he turned back around he had that wicked little crooked smirk I was more than familiar with.

And I was wearing the same expression when we got to the top of the next landing. Elizabeth was waiting for us, and when she saw our matching grins her eyebrows shot up and she let out a short, amused snort. "I'm beginning to feel decidedly outnumbered and a tiny bit nervous, Colonel," she said and tried to contain her smile as she glanced back and forth between us.

I rolled my eyes a little and clamped my lips together for a second. "Yeah, sorry about that," I replied. I almost added _so do I._

She nodded faintly at me then swiveled slightly to face Shadow. She started to offer her hand, then at the last second just wound up clasping both in front of her. "Shadow, it's a pleasure to meet you."

I could see she was trying really hard to just focus on his face, but she lost the battle and I saw her eyes dart down once and her smile widen slightly. I closed my eyes briefly and clamped my hands down on my P90 to keep from cradling my forehead and sighing.

"And it's an honor to meet you, Dr. Weir," Shadow said, offered that slight bow again, and smiled crookedly.

I watched in what I could only describe as detached horror as Elizabeth's neck grew pink. She lowered her eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind her right ear. _Oh, Jesus._ Somebody behind me sighed – I think it may have been Carson.

"Shall we go to my office?" Elizabeth said and swiveled to gesture towards it. Then she kind of froze, and you could see her regarding all that _glass_. "On second thought, let's go to the conference room," she said when she turned back to us and led us that way. All the techs were still standing in a little group as they watched us traipse on by, and they had all become mouth breathers. A glare from Rodney cured that, and they scrambled back to their stations. Damn, I only get that kind of reaction with those guys if I'm holding a loaded weapon.

The doors hadn't even swiveled all the way open before we stepped inside the conference room. Shadow immediately began walking around the table and checking out everything, mostly by touch it seemed. Elizabeth stepped up next to Carson and said quietly, "Is 'this' what you needed to speak to John about?"

"Aye," Carson replied just as quietly.

"Hmm," she replied and gave me a sideways glance. At least she was diplomatic enough to keep her amusement under control. "I want a full work-up on him," she whispered.

"Planned on it," Carson said.

"Good." Then Elizabeth stepped forward. "So, Shadow, what brings you to our fair city?"

"Sheppard invited me," Shadow replied from the opposite side of the room. He was standing right next to the table, his head down and his hand resting on the lighted surface. He looked up at us. "This is Atlantis," he said, his tone a bit mystified.

We all kind of glanced at each other. I don't recall any of us mentioning it by name, and all mission logos are masked or removed when we're off world. But then he could have read that as we walked past control. Elizabeth rested her hands on the back of a chair and replied, "Yes, it is. You've heard of it."

Shadow chuffed and Elizabeth jumped a fraction. "It's mentioned in the Temple's … lab's database many times. The scientists who built it came from here, but its exact location was never given," he replied. "We thought it had been destroyed long ago."

I think the 'we' caught her a little off guard because she frowned briefly. I knew he meant the Guardians in general and not his people. "So did a lot of people," Elizabeth replied. "You are quite familiar, then, with the Ancients and their technology," she stated rather than asked.

Shadow clamped his lips together, raised his eyebrows a bit, and nodded several times. "Considering I'm a product of that technology, yes, I am." He shrugged apologetically and continued his exploration of the room.

He said it so innocently and matter-of-factly it took us all a little by surprise. And it made me just a little bit more pissed at the Ancients. I glanced at Carson and noticed the statement bothered him as well, only he just looked … sad about it all.

Elizabeth cleared her throat before she spoke. "I didn't get to meet the previous Guardian, and for than I am truly sorry."

Shadow's expression was neutral when he nodded once, but his eyes lowered briefly and I could see the pain there in that second.

"I apologize for not getting back to you and your people sooner. Things got … hectic. We truly do wish to trade, and the little information Dr. McKay brought back was absolutely amazing."

Shadow smiled. "Your Dr. Brown was very excited to be at the lab. I think if she could have packed up the entire Temple and brought it back here, she would have. I hope your people can find a use for what's been sitting there, unused, for all these centuries." Then his expression got a little dark. "The Ancients certainly don't need it, and my people's requirements are fairly simple."

Rodney snorted and received dirty glares from me and Carson.

Elizabeth even turned briefly and arched an eyebrow at him. "Well, we're happy to have you here, Shadow, and I'm looking forward to talking to you. How long will you be staying with us?"

"Only a couple days," Shadow replied. Then he looked at me and grinned. "Sheppard promised to show me the ocean."

I shrugged when Elizabeth looked at me. "The kid really likes water. I thought it'd be cool."

She made that little _hmm_ noise again. "In that case, let's show him the ocean." Shadow had made a complete circuit of the conference table, and since he was only a few feet from Elizabeth she started to reach out and take his arm, but at the last second just motioned for him to follow her. I cheated and thought the doors to the balcony open before they got there, and as soon as the ocean breeze hit them Shadow stopped and started taking in quick breaths with his mouth slightly open. The only way I could tell it startled Elizabeth was when she glanced our way briefly, her eyes slightly wider than normal. Then he did his big, happy smile and that did make her go, "Oh, my," at the sight of his fangs. He was out the door before she could recover.

I was the first one to meet her at the doors. "Yeah, he has pointy teeth," I said.

"Goes well with the pointy ears," Rodney added. "And the pointy hair."

I scowled at him. "You are just enjoying this entirely too much, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am," Rodney replied with a crooked smirk.

I sighed and got a sympathetic smile from Elizabeth. We both stepped out onto the balcony and could see Shadow was at the railing. He was up on his toes and peering over the edge. Elizabeth let out a short, startled laugh and quickly turned around, her hand to her mouth. I just hung my head. "John, if he's going to be here for a few days, we _really_ need to find him some clothes," she whispered. I just nodded.

Carson and Rodney stepped out a moment later, and Carson sputtered out, "Oh, dear." He turned his head away and rubbed his mouth.

"Hello!" Rodney said. "You know, he really does have quite the physique. What would you say his body fat percentage is at, Carson? Two? Three?" Then he turned and glanced back towards the windows that looked out onto the balcony from the 'Gate Room and waved. "Oh, hey, I think I see a camera." He turned back around and rocked back and forth a few times.

"Enough," I growled. "Now you know what I've been going through for the past day," I whispered to Elizabeth.

"I'm so sorry," Elizabeth said and choked back another laugh. _Yeah, sure you are_, I thought. Then she made an effort to set her features to a more diplomatic smile and less junior high smirk and turned back around. We went over to the balcony to join Shadow.

"So, what dya think?" I said and stood between him and the 'Gate Room windows.

Shadow settled back on his heels and crossed his arms. "It's huge," he said, and I wasn't sure if he was talking about the ocean, Atlantis, or both. "I feel … very exposed."

We all heard a weird noise right then – it was like a cross between a gag and a sneeze and someone stepping on a cat. We turned around and saw Rodney, his mouth clamped down tight and his eyes glittering. "That was probably the wrong choice of words," he managed to choke out. We also noticed he was kind of pale and sweating like a pig.

"Rodney, are you all right?" Elizabeth asked.

"Never been better," he replied. Then in the next heartbeat his smirk disappeared and his eyes got wide. He raised a finger, cocked his head, and said, "Excuse me." Then he turned around and shuffled back into the conference room at a pretty fast clip.

Now it was Shadow's turn to smirk. He hitched his chin toward Rodney's retreating back. "He's going to need a very strong anti-diarrheic for the next few days," he said to Carson.

Carson chuckled. "I've got just the thing." He shook his head. "He was warned."

Elizabeth was glancing back and forth between the two and you could see the question in her eyes. "We'll explain later," I said to her.

Shadow hunched his shoulders over a little and his smile turned more into a grimace. "Your world is a lot cooler than mine."

"We better get you back inside," Carson said and he motioned Shadow to follow him back into the conference room. "We'll get you outfitted with some proper clothes once we're done in the infirmary."

"Infirmary?" Shadow asked and stopped just inside the doors.

"Standard procedure," I said. Once Elizabeth and I were inside I closed the doors. "Anytime we go off world we have to have a physical when we get back."

"Aye – it's to ensure they don't bring any bugs back with them that could make us all sick," Carson said. "And the opposite is true, also – we like to make sure we don't have anything that could get our visitors sick in turn."

Shadow thought that over for a second and nodded. "Understandable. After your last visit some of my people got ill."

"Nothing serious, I hope," Elizabeth said worriedly.

"No. Some congestion, coughing. It was all over in five days once symptoms set in."

"That's good to hear," Carson replied with a concerned sigh. "Anyhow, it's just a few simple blood tests, a quick check up, and you're done." He glanced my way. "And that goes for everyone, including the Colonel and myself."

"All right," Shadow said and rubbed his arms. That shadow rippled across them briefly and I saw Elizabeth's eyes get wide.

When we left the conference room I noticed immediately the working staff of the 'Gate Room had nearly doubled in size, and the extra looky-loos weren't being discreet at all. Man, word travels fast here. To say I felt self-conscious as we all came down the stairs was an understatement, and I was happy I didn't see any cameras. They must have been hiding them well. Elizabeth was still with us, so she obviously intended to accompany us to the infirmary. There was no sign of Rodney, and that was just fine by me.

When we got to the main floor there were two scientists with full packs and gear standing there. One was a tall gangly red head and the other a tiny, cute Japanese woman - they had to be Katie's people. They both had their mouths open and I just nodded curtly at them as we passed. It was a full three seconds before I heard the giggling. I only clamped my lips together and grimaced.

I was glad it was a short walk to the lift, and after a crowded ride down a couple levels I definitely was not looking forward to the longer walk to the infirmary, especially after the doors opened and I saw easily a dozen people just loitering in the hall. So I set my shoulders, kept the grimace on my face, gripped my P90 like I was more than ready to use it, and stepped out. Yeah, that helped with the more overt ogling, but heads were still peaking out of doors as we passed by. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and when I glanced at Shadow I saw he was curiously checking everyone out in return. Especially the women.

We were rounding the final corner when I saw Lieutenant Cadman approaching. She was decked out in sweats and carrying a gym bag, and when she saw us she slowed down to a dazed shuffle and moved to the side. She was staring at Shadow, and when I glanced to the side I saw Shadow was staring just as intently back at her. When they passed each other they just kept turning and for a few seconds they were both walking backwards. Then Shadow swiveled back around to face forward and I could see a lopsided grin as he said, "The women here are … tall."

A loud crash made us all stop and turn around. Cadman had backed into a planter and she, the plant, and the planter had all gone down. Carson ran over to help her up and she waved him away as she fought her way out of the plant and shot to her feet. He took a moment to help her set the planter back upright and she took off down the hall, stopped, came back and got her gym bag, and was gone. Carson stood there a moment just staring at the crooked plant and I could tell he was only doing that to get his snickering under control. Elizabeth had her hand back to her mouth, too, when she turned back around. I just growled, did an about face, and started stomping towards the infirmary.

Shadow caught up with me a second later, and I could see him looking at me out of the corner of my eye. "My presence here is upsetting you," he said.

I glanced at him and saw his eyebrows crooked up in the middle in worry. "It's not you, kid – it's everyone else." _What were his words? Oh, yeah …_. "It's very disconcerting."

He chuffed. "They do seem highly amused by it. Perhaps when I am dressed more like your people it will help matters."

"Yeah, I hope to God it will."

When we got into the infirmary Carson made sure any non-essential personnel were kept out. Rodney joined us several minutes later and the first thing Carson did was hand him a dose of Imodium. Rodney swallowed it with a grimace, and as he handed the little cup back he said, "Radek better be going through hell, too. That's all I can say." But then he proved that statement wrong and proceeded to bitch for another few minutes before he had to run off to the bathroom again.

Carson got me processed right away so I could go back to my quarters and get something for Shadow to wear and change into my own clothes. The halls were filled with the right number of people for the time of day, but I still got some rather odd looks as I double-timed it back to the infirmary. I had a duffle with me and crammed inside was a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, and a hoodie. I thought about throwing in my extra pair of running shoes, but I knew I wouldn't be comfortable wearing somebody else's pair of sweaty sneakers so I left them behind.

Carson had Shadow under the Ancient medical scanner when I got back, and a small flock of medical personnel was watching with extreme interest. Elizabeth was standing off to the side and I joined her. I'd passed a very pissy Rodney back in the main infirmary – they were just finishing up with his physical. You'd think by now he'd realize that it goes much quicker if you co-operate, but no – he has to fight tooth and nail the whole time. I set the duffle down and crossed my arms. "Is something the matter with Shadow?" I asked, a little alarmed at the thought.

"No, no," Elizabeth replied. "The scanners here are a little more advanced than the ones in his lab. He's been having Carson run different tests so he can see how they work." She smiled and rubbed her nose. "At one point he even had Carson up on the table so he could run a few diagnostics. It was … very cute."

I snorted. "I bet Carson is absolutely thrilled he has a cooperative patient."

Carson obviously heard us because he turned around and gave us a not too convincing stern glare. "You're bloidy damn right about that. Between you and your 'I'm fine, it's just a scratch' attitude and his paranoid hypochondria and veterinary cracks …." He pointed past me and I turned my head to see Rodney walking up, his hand pressed to the crook of his elbow. "… It's enough to make me forget my oath, and possible brain damage or not, just keep you two stunned until you're healed."

Rodney stopped next to me and glanced back and forth between me and Carson. "What's got his kilt in a wad?" he said to me. As if he didn't know. Then he glanced up at the scanner's screen and just flipped in a blink from being an asshole to being a curious scientist. The man's schizophrenic – has to be. That's the _only_ possible explanation. "Oh, hey," he said distractedly. "He's got the vitals of a cat."

Carson lifted his hands, gazed upward, and shook his head. He turned back around and looked at the screen, too. Shadow sat up and craned his head around to read the stats as well. "Yes, he does," Carson replied and called up a couple different graphics. "Body temperature, one-oh-two point two, resting pulse right around one-twenty, blood pressure one-sixty over one-hundred." He glanced at me over his shoulder. "You two may make look alike, but that's about it."

Shadow and I met each other's eyes and cocked our heads. I went _huh_ the same time he chuffed, and then we both got lopsided grins.

It got really quiet for a moment before Carson grunted and said, "All right, now _that_ was wee bit eerie."

"I think that was more than just a 'wee bit'," Rodney said. Then he stepped forward and whispered, "Have you scanned him when he's, you know …."

Shadow leaned forward and gazed around Carson. "I am right here." Then he smiled faintly at Carson. "I can change – I do not mind."

"Are you sure, lad? I don't want to impose …."

"I'm sure." Shadow shrugged. "I will be warmer that way. Let me know when you are ready." He lay back down and sat his hands on his stomach.

I turned and motioned Elizabeth forward. "You gotta see this," I whispered to her when we moved up closer to the head of the exam table.

"It's so freaking cool," Rodney muttered, his eyes fixed on the scanner's screen.

If all the attention was bothering Shadow, he didn't show it. He was looking pretty relaxed when Carson finally said, "All right – ready when you are, son."

I was watching Elizabeth when he shifted. The flinch and surprised, "Oh, Lord," was well worth it. I put my hands on my hips, smiled smugly, and rocked back on my heels as I listened to the other surprised gasps in the room. I looked at the read-outs and saw his body temp had gone up a degree, his pulse up ten more beats a minute, and his blood pressure hardly fluctuated.

Shadow immediately started to twist around so he could see the read-outs, too, but Carson shooed him back. "Scootch back, lad – I'm not done."

"Sorry," Shadow replied and his speaking while looking like _that_ brought even more startled noises. He settled back down, and after a minute he yawned and that brought another wave of comments from the onlookers. I must say, the kid had an impressive set of teeth in that half form. He even looked like he was about ready to doze off until Carson gave him the go ahead to sit back up. He instantly swiveled his legs out and stood next to Carson, still in his half-form, and they were both studying the new read-outs intently and commenting too quietly for me to hear. Elizabeth and I got forced back as the other doctors and nurses crowded around them. Rodney managed to bull his way up next to Carson, even though this wasn't his area of expertise. He lasted maybe twenty seconds before he got a pained grimace and had to leave the room again.

Carson glanced at Shadow. "If you don't mind my asking, haven't you, well, scanned yourself before now? You have the equipment."

Shadow shook his head. "I know all the bio-stats of my predecessors – it's all up here," he said and tapped his temple with a broad finger. "I've just never been curious until now." Then he glanced around until he saw me. His ears flicked, and he was back studying read-outs.

I guess meeting your source material made a really big difference to the Guardians. At least to him, anyway. Must be a lot of comfort in anonymity, I decided. I felt someone watching me and I turned my head and found Elizabeth studying me closely. "How are you holding up under all of this?" she asked very softly. The concern I saw in her face was … really nice after all the previous snickers and twitches.

I lowered my head and rubbed my neck. "Well, a lot better than yesterday, that's for damn sure." Amazing what a midnight life-or-death hunting trip could do as a sanity check and bonding experience – but I think I would have preferred a football game and a cooler of brews. Or maybe nuking a few Wraith. I snorted softly. "It's still pretty weird at times, though, and all the snickering and giggling and smart-assed comments don't help."

"I shall try to behave," Elizabeth said.

"Can we stun Rodney?" I whined. "It would make things a whole helluva lot easier."

For just a second I saw her seriously consider the idea. "But we may need him for an emergency," she said as if trying to convince herself not to stun him. "And he's even worse when he wakes up."

"Yeah, forgot about that," I said and sighed. She was still watching me and I offered her a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. Thank you for asking." Then before things got too awkward I bumped her shoulder lightly with mine. She blinked, then smiled back, but she lowered her eyes quickly. I looked back towards Carson and Shadow and tried to ignore the faint pink that came to her ears.

"Well, lad, I think we can safely turn you lose in the city. You have a few minor intestinal parasites – considering you live in a tropical jungle I'm amazed you don't have more in your system – but other than that you're incredibly healthy." Carson patted him on a furry shoulder. "Let me get something to clear those bugs up with and we can get you dressed." He glanced around and actually frowned. "All right, people – back tae work. We do have other patients." There was a general groaning and mumbling, but they did scatter. Pretty soon it was just me, Elizabeth, Carson, and Shadow. "I'll be right back," Carson said and a moment later he was gone, too.

Shadow reached out and ran a blunt hand along the edge of the scanner. "I don't suppose you would be willing to trade one of these?" he asked hopefully and swiveled his head towards Elizabeth.

She stepped up closer to him, her hands clasped behind her back. "We may have spare or two. I'll check inventory and speak with Carson." Then she ducked her head and seemed embarrassed as she cleared her throat. "I don't mean to be intrusive, but may I …?" She lifted a hand and hesitantly held it a few inches from his arm. Shadow nodded and just raised his arm so she had no choice but to bury fingers into black fur. She let out a startled _oh_ and pulled back, then set her hand back on his arm. "It's softer than I expected," she said and you could see her fighting the urge to just _pet_ his arm.

_Oh, for crying out loud_, I thought and rolled my eyes.

Elizabeth must have noticed my expression because she pulled her hand back and cleared her throat again. "Thank you," she said to Shadow. He chuffed, and there was actually a touch of purr on the tail end of it. She blushed and backed away a step, I shook my head, and Shadow managed to get a fairly decent lopsided grin on his feline face.

"Did I miss anything?" Rodney replied as he came back into the room. He glanced between a retreating Elizabeth and Shadow curiously. Someone had shoved a bottle of blue Gatorade in his hand during his last trek through the infirmary – no doubt Carson – and he was just now opening it. Then he looked at me as he took a drink. "I did miss something, didn't I? Damn it. I wish that Immodium would hurry up and kick in." He looked at Elizabeth, but she already had her diplomat face on.

"No, you didn't," I said a little too disgustedly and picked up my duffle. I walked over and set it on the exam table and unzipped it. "I think these should fit without any problem." I pulled the jeans out first and showed him how the zipper worked. "This goes in front."

Shadow nodded, and as he reached out to take the jeans he shifted back to human. Our backs were to Rodney and Elizabeth, and as he grabbed the pants he said in a barely audible whisper, "I'm not invading your territory, am I?"

"What?" I said a little louder than I wanted. "No," I whispered back. "Just … behave yourself around her. Okay?"

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye for a moment, then chuffed. "All right – I will." His tone struck me as a tiny bit … mocking. He tested the zipper a few times and was about to put the jeans on when Carson returned.

"Hold up on those a moment, lad," Carson said as he set two syringes and some alcohol wipes on the table. He shooed me away and I went over by Elizabeth.

"What are those?" Shadow asked cautiously.

Carson opened a wipe and swabbed an area on Shadow's upper arm. He held up the first syringe. "This is just a precaution against a nasty flu-like bug that has cropped up a few times here on Atlantis. We do have a few cases currently – I'm pretty sure they're past the contagious stage but I don't want you tae spend your stay here hugging that uncomfortable contraption the Ancients call a toilet. Your experience in the cafeteria will be frightening enough. This may sting a bit," he said and administered the shot. Shadow didn't flinch, but a line of fur rose up along his spine for a split second. "Now turn around." Shadow did, and this time he did flinch when cold alcohol hit his right cheek. His eyes got a little wide and the three of us watching couldn't help grinning. "And this one is for your …." We could tell Carson almost said 'worms', but he caught himself at the last possible second. "… Parasites."

Rodney had his lips clamped down and was just rocking in place, his bottle of Gatorade sloshing merrily. I smacked the back of his head and he mouthed _ow_. He hid his smirk behind another drink.

"There – all done," Carson said. "Now get dressed before ya catch cold."

Shadow just stared at Carson with a hurt expression and rubbed his cheek. Elizabeth had to turn away or else embarrass herself even further by busting out laughing. Then Shadow stared accusingly at me. "And all your guests are subjected to this?"

I forced myself to be serious. "Yeah, they are." I grimaced. "Sorry."

He didn't look like he believed me as he started to put his right leg into the jeans. He got his other leg in and once they were pulled up he just undid the belt and left the ends of the loincloth hanging over the waistband after he zipped up. It didn't look half bad, either – especially after her refastened the belt over the top. Kind of had an Apache thing going there. I went back to the table and pulled the t-shirt out and showed him what was the front. He pulled it on and I felt a little jealous because it was almost too small for him through the shoulders and chest. He studied me for a moment, then tucked it in. He even put the hoodie on but didn't zip it up.

"We should probably find you some shoes," Carson said.

Shadow glanced down at his feet. "No, this is fine. I'm used to this and your foot wear looks uncomfortable." He looked up and made note of Carson's concerned frown. "The floor doesn't feel cold. Honest."

"All right," Carson replied, but he didn't look convinced.

"He'll be fine," I said as I picked up my duffle. "It's not like the halls of Atlantis are littered with broken glass and cactus. Mind if I stash this here for now?" I said to Carson as I held up the empty duffle. He nodded and took it from me. Then I looked at Shadow and nodded for him to follow. "C'mon, kid – let's go see the ocean up close."

Shadow perked up and grinned. "All right."

I glanced at Elizabeth. "Want to join us?"

"I'm sorry – I can't," she replied and looked genuinely disappointed. "I have some reports to go over and some paperwork I've neglected for far too long. Perhaps I can join you two for lunch."

"Okay – we'll swing by and get you," I said. Then I looked at Rodney. Yeah, he'll be tagging along, nothing I can do to about that. But then Carson stepped in and saved the day.

"I want you to sit here for the next hour, or until you can actually go ten minutes without running to the loo. Understood?" Carson said. When Rodney started to open his mouth he held up a finger. "I will break out the big guns, and you remember what that stuff tastes like, don't you?" Rodney kind of deflated. "Good. Now drink." Carson glanced at me and grinned briefly as we left the room and I knew I owed him a really big favor.


	6. VI: On Survival, Spam, & Little Voices

_A/N: For some odd reason, after writing this chapter I had a craving for Spam for about three days ... :)_

**VI: On Survival, Spam, and Little Voices**

Elizabeth walked with us and the second we left the infirmary I saw Ronon leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and his perpetual faint smirk lighting his face. He straightened up and just fell into step next to me, but his attention was focused on Shadow. Shadow returned the scrutiny. He didn't say anything until we'd gone halfway down the hall. "I was supposed to be sparring with Cadman this morning, but she was too distracted," Ronon said, his deep voice not reflecting the amusement that was there in his face. "She kept giggling and saying something that sounded like 'naked Colonel'. After the third time I knocked her off her feet she excused herself to go take a shower. Don't know why – she hadn't worked up a sweat at all." He glanced down at me, then at Shadow. "Do you know what she was talking about?" He kept a better deadpan than Lorne, but I could just see he knew damn well what Cadman had been talking about.

I heard Elizabeth cough and I glanced behind me. "See what I mean?"

"Who is Cadman?" Shadow asked.

"Tripped over the plant," I growled and heard Elizabeth cough again.

"Oh," Shadow replied, then grinned briefly. We were at the lift and Elizabeth excused herself. As the doors closed and we continued down the hall, Shadow glanced past me at Ronon. "You are the warrior that came to my world before," he said.

Ronon nodded. "And you are the new Guardian," he rumbled back.

"I am." The corner of Shadow's mouth quirked up a fraction. "Xelu and Kelu wish you would return for a visit. They enjoyed your company last time."

_So, those must be the twins_, I thought. And judging from the slow smile that lit Ronon's face as I glanced at him, my guess was correct. "They were very energetic."

Shadow chuffed. "Yes, they keep me busy."

My eyebrows shot up and I turned my head towards Shadow. His ears actually turned red and he lowered his head, but it didn't hide the wicked grin. "Well, I did ask you if things were functional," I said and shook my head. "But, damn …." _Make me feel old_, I thought as we got to the transporter. Ronon joined us, and he was smirking as he sized up the kid in a new light. _Jeez_. "Pace yourself, kid." I touched the screen and a second later we were exiting the transporter in a tower over on the west pier. A short walk later we were outside and Shadow couldn't contain himself. He ran over to the edge of the pier while Ronon and I followed at a leisurely pace.

When we finally joined him, Shadow was crouched down on the balls of his feet and staring intently at the waves nearly thirty feet below. The sea was pretty calm today – the spray from the waves hitting the pier was barely reaching us. He swiveled on his feet and looked up at me. "Do you swim here?"

"Naw – it's a little too exposed out here." I gestured back towards the city. "Some people do swim in the bays, but there's a completely sheltered area under the main tower that they use. I prefer the surf off the mainland, myself – water's a little warmer."

"Could we go there?" he asked.

"I could probably arrange that," I said. "You up to another Jumper flight?"

Shadow thought about it for a moment before he nodded. He swiveled back around, sat, and we spent a quiet few minutes just watching the waves. Shadow yawned again before he said, "I like the sound, but it's going to put me to sleep." He got to his feet and shook his head. "I usually sleep this time of day."

I realized his schedule must really be off because of these past few days. "You want to go back inside? I can show you the guest quarters."

First he nodded, then he shook his head. "I want to see more of the city – sleep can wait." We started walking back to the tower. "Perhaps I can try some of that coffee the loud one spoke of."

Ronon snorted. "Must be McKay," he rumbled. I nodded. You know, I think I might start referring to him as that, too. "Would you like to spar later?" Ronon asked Shadow.

"Spar?"

"Fighting practice," I said as we stepped back into the tower.

Shadow lifted his eyebrow in understanding. Then he frowned. "No, I don't fight."

Ronon laughed, but when Shadow remained frowning he said, "You're joking, right?" At Shadow's head shake he just stared at him. "But your people have weapons. Surely you practice with them."

"We do, but we use them to hunt. And I know how to use a bow and blow gun, but I prefer to use my teeth and claws for that task."

"But you have enemies, do you not? The giant birds, the big cat …."

"I can defend myself if the need arises, yes," Shadow replied. "But that is different than fighting. There used to be warfare among my people, but that was well over seven hundred years ago. They devote their energy now to just staying alive in the jungle – they do not need to waste their energy learning how to kill _each other_." Shadow's voice had lowered, and even though his face remained calm I could see the anger simmering just beneath the surface.

"Then how do you keep the Wraith from destroying your people if you don't fight?" The concept obviously had Ronon buffaloed.

"The Temple protects us," Shadow said. "And since our numbers have remained small since the great city fell, the Wraith take few when they come. I believe it is too much work for so little a return for them, especially since there are richer worlds for them to plunder." The corner of his mouth rose in an ironic smirk.

We stopped in front of the transporter and Ronon wasn't going to let it go. "But the Temple can't protect your people forever. What if it fails? How will you survive then? Hide?" he sneered.

"There is a good chance the Nixtahuec will be long gone before that happens," Shadow said quietly. "And different peoples have different definitions of 'survival'."

That stopped Ronon short. His definition of survival for seven years was to kill or be killed. He had absolutely no choice in the matter as the Wraith hunted him for sport, and that definitely colored his perception of the universe. Even after a more than a year with us I could tell he still struggled with the idea of being able to live without constantly looking over his shoulder. It was really evident in the way he ate his meals - all hunched over the food like he was expecting someone to steal it away and sitting on the edge of his chair like he needed to bolt at a moment's notice. He started to open his mouth but I held up a hand and shook my head faintly. Ronon held his hands to his dreds for a second like he was trying to keep the top of his head from exploding, then lowered them with a disgusted sigh. When we stepped into the transporter he crossed his arms and kept looking at Shadow and shaking his head.

I zapped us back to the main tower and Ronon headed back to the gym. As we headed down the hall Shadow glanced over his shoulder. "He thinks I'm weak because I don't fight."

"No he doesn't," I said.

"He does – I can see it in his eyes."

"Eh, don't let it bother you."

Shadow shrugged. "It doesn't. But I doubt he can kill an Ixlatecutl with his teeth."

"No, but I bet he'd try." And sadly enough, I could picture it without any problem whatsoever.

We stopped by Katie's lab before lunch with the intention of a brief tour. They were unpacking the samples from his world when we arrived, and he helped with organizing them. At one point he even had me snipping stems and getting clippings settled in our small hydroponics lab with the rest of the botanists. I got a lot of smiles from the other scientists, and truth be told, I kind of had fun. Shadow was obviously in his element, and by the time we left he had charmed them all out of their socks. We were over an hour late for our lunch with Elizabeth, but knowing how wrapped up she got into her work she probably didn't even notice.

Sure enough, when we showed up at her door she said, "Is it that time all ready?"

"Yup," I said. We stepped into her office and Shadow immediately started checking out the masks on the wall.

"Those were gifts from the people on ML9-642," Elizabeth said. She closed the lid to her laptop, but not before I caught a glimpse of cards. She saw my raised eyebrows and grinned sheepishly.

"I like them," Shadow replied. Then he was distracted by the figurines on her desk. He picked one up, smiled faintly as he set it back down, then was checking out the carved wooden round-box Teyla had given her awhile back.

Elizabeth watched him with an amused glint in her eyes. He was like a little kid – everything he looked at he had to touch. At least he wasn't _sniffing_ things. I'm not so sure I could handle that. "So, Shadow, are you ready to try our food?" she asked as she pushed away from her desk and stood up.

"I'm looking forward to trying coffee," he said and grinned. Now that we were in the brighter lights of Elizabeth's office I could see some hellacious circles under his eyes. I bet mine were a match.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to get him hooked on that?" she said to me, one eyebrow raised.

I waved that off. "Eh, he should be fine. He has a fruit on his world that packs a meaner punch than anything Starbuck's could make any day."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding. Then she glanced sideways at Shadow. "Is that what Rodney ate?"

Shadow and I both nodded. "He ate three – we seldom eat more than half of one," Shadow replied. "Two can keep one of my people awake for as many days." _Well, that explains why I was still wide awake_, I thought.

"Well, Rodney has built up quite the tolerance to caffeine. I'm sure he'll crash sooner than that."

"Especially if he accepts any pudding from Carson," I muttered as we left the office. At Elizabeth's raised eyebrow I replied, "He threatened to lace some with Valium. I'd like to see that."

Elizabeth didn't seem to keen on the idea of our CMO lacing somebody's food with a sedative. But then it was Rodney we were talking about, and she lost her frown and nodded thoughtfully.

Our trek through the 'Gate Room wasn't nearly as eventful as before. We still got a few stares, but now that Shadow wasn't nearly naked they seemed more subtle. The walk down the hall was uneventful, but heads were still popping out of doorways as if Atlantis was suddenly infested with a bunch of really big wall dwelling alien gophers. There was a brief moment of silence when we stepped into the mess, but it quickly disappeared as conversation returned to a normal level. And it was without a doubt we were the topic, because all eyes kept flitting to us. Jesus, it was like high school all over again, without the zits and braces.

I grimaced as I turned my back to them and picked up a tray and handed it to Shadow. "Okay, kid, there's a trick to our food," I said as I stocked his tray with silverware before I grabbed one for myself. "If it has Spam in it, it's probably safe. The stuff has a thousand and one uses and almost always edible. Deep fried stuff is good, steamed, eh, not so much." I grabbed a couple turkey sandwiches and set those on our trays. "If it's swimming in a lot of gravy, watch out - it's probably there to disguise this week's serving of 'near deer' and they couldn't think of any other way to prepare it." That got a scowl from the woman behind the hot table and a raised eyebrow from Shadow. "I'll explain later." I had her dish Shadow up some mashed potatoes – they're usually safe - and a sample of the Spam casserole with green beans. It smelled pretty good today, so I got a helping, too. "And most importantly, try to avoid _anything_ with the word 'surprise' in it. That usually means the cooks had leftovers and are experimenting. The results at times can be very, very frightening." I got another scowl. "Oh, you know it's true – don't deny it," I said with a grin. She rolled her eyes and reluctantly nodded.

"You forgot something very essential," Elizabeth said as she got her usual salad and fruit cup. "Ranch dressing can make anything edible."

"And ketchup or Tobasco," I added. Elizabeth grimaced. "Hey, it's a guy thing."

Shadow was listening intently and I wasn't sure, but he looked a little scared. He lifted his tray and dubiously sniffed the Spam casserole.

"Here, this is very good," Elizabeth said and set a fruit cup on his tray. "I think you'll like it."

"And here is the best part of our food," I said as we got to the end of the line. "Dessert!" They had the usual assortment of Jello and pudding cups, as well as lemon bars and angel food cake with whipped cream. I grabbed one of each. We didn't have room on our trays for drinks so I decided to come back.

"I don't know if I can eat all of this," Shadow said as we walked over to a table.

"Don't worry about it – try it, what you don't like, don't eat it. If Rodney shows up later, he can finish it for you." I set my tray down and Shadow sat across from me. Elizabeth set hers next to mine. "I'll be right back." I went and got a couple bottles of water, a couple different fruit juices, and two cups of coffee. I stuck a handful of sugars and creamers in my pocket, and on my way back to the table got a lot of funny looks.

When I got back to the table Elizabeth was showing Shadow how to use a fork. He still hadn't tried anything yet – he was still sniffing things and at one point poked his mashed potatoes with a finger. I set the coffee down then unloaded the bottled drinks. I pushed one of the tin cups towards him. "I drink my coffee black, um, plain. Some people like cream or sugar in theirs." I emptied my pocket and showed him which was which.

Shadow picked up the cup and took a sniff before a hesitant sip. He made a great face – nose wrinkled and mouth slightly open. "It's bitter." Then we started experimenting, and by the time he got it to a point he liked he had dumped two sugars and five creamers in it. "I think I will stick with tinu – this takes too much preparation before it is drinkable."

_To each his own,_ I thought as I took a sip of my coffee. "Well, dig in." I picked up my sandwich and after a bite really missed the cold Jubjub I had for breakfast.

The kid tried his sandwich as well, and after a few hesitant chews nodded. "This tastes like Ixlatecutl," he said around a bite. He ate half then decided to try the Spam casserole. He held his fork for a moment and watched Elizabeth as she used hers, then speared a piece of Spam. He sniffed it again before sticking it in his mouth. He looked so serious as he chewed I had to glance over at Elizabeth. She was hiding her own grin behind her water at the moment. "What animal does this meat come from?" Shadow asked after he swallowed.

"Um, I'm not really sure," I said. "I think it's pork." I glanced at Elizabeth.

"Don't ask me – I've never looked that closely at the label."

"I'm pretty sure it's pork."

"Don't your people hunt it?"

"Um, no." I suddenly had an image of stalking the elusive Spam through a forest, complete with an Australian narrator, and almost choked. "Most of our food is raised on farms and ranches, then sent away to be processed and packaged and sent to grocery stores, and …." Shadow was looking kind of lost. I glanced at Elizabeth. "Help me out here."

"We have a section of our society that specializes in providing food – either growing it or raising the animals. Then another group processes and prepares it for sale to the rest of the people. Our numbers are simply just too large for each family to provide for itself, like your people do."

Shadow frowned as he cocked his head and got an inward look, like he was trying to remember something. Then his eyebrows rose. "Ah, I understand now. When Mixtahuaxutec - the city - was at height it had to have food imported from outlying areas to support the population. The people then bought it at the market."

"Exactly," I said and gave Elizabeth a thankful smile. When I turned back Shadow was nodding as he enthusiastically shoveled it in. Guess he likes Spam. He was a little more civilized about it that Ronon was, but not by much. At least he was using the fork. The mashed potatoes followed a moment later, and when he finished those off he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Then he licked his hand in such a cat-like motion it made Elizabeth and me both freeze. Shadow noticed us and paused, his eyebrows raised. "We, ah, use napkins for that," Elizabeth said and somewhat sheepishly and wiped her own mouth.

Shadow offered a faint crooked smile and picked his napkin up. He wiped his hand off, then his face.

"Well, Ronon doesn't," I said. "Even after all this time. And there's a few of the Marines I'm not so sure about." I had a faint crooked smile as I popped the last of my sandwich in my mouth. I tried a bite of the casserole. "Oh, hey – they did do a good job on it this time," I said around a mouthful. I reached for my water, and I saw Shadow watching me as I opened the bottle. Then he did the same with his water.

Shadow was hunched over, elbows on the table and chewing the last of his sandwich, when he suddenly went completely still and his eyes dilated a fraction. His head swiveled slowly as he tracked someone walking behind me. Then the corner of his mouth twitched up as well as one eyebrow and he lifted his chin and nodded at whoever it was. I had to turn around to see who he was hitting on – I knew that was exactly what he was doing – and saw one of the newer scientists to come to Atlantis. She had long, dark wavy hair and dark eyes that were huge at the moment. Oh yeah, I'd noticed her before, too, and I caught myself before I did the same thing Shadow did just a second ago. She flushed crimson and hurried off with her tray. When I turned back around I saw Shadow was still watching her until she sat. He turned back to his food with a little grin on his face. Then I heard Elizabeth clear her throat, and when I glanced at her she rolled her eyes, but a little amused smirk showed a second later. Okay, that was, um, embarrassing.

We pretty much ate the rest of our lunch in silence after that. The kid wound up polishing off everything except the lemon bar and the Jello, and I took care of those, and when he got to the angel food cake he looked like he'd died and gone to heaven. I even went back and snagged a couple more pieces, and as he devoured the second piece that little fur ripple went down his neck. "I'm not sure which I like more," he said as he wiped up the last of the whipped cream with a finger. "This or the cake. They are both wonderful." He licked his finger, and as his eyes half closed I saw that third eyelid again. That freaked me out a little bit. He looked at Elizabeth. "What exactly is 'angel food', and is it difficult to procure? Because I would like to trade, if it is available."

Elizabeth barely held in a laugh. "I'm sorry - it isn't an actual food," she said and smiled. "It's more of a description, because the cake is so light and airy." When he started to look crestfallen she did let out a little chuckle.

"I'm sure if I talked to our cooks we can get you a cake or two to take back home," I said.

"And the …." He gestured to the barely visible smear on his plate.

"Whipped cream? Sure. We could probably arrange that."

Shadow grinned happily.

Elizabeth left us after we all dropped off our trays. She had Shadow promise to come see her before he left to discuss trading arrangements for fresh produce and meat. Man, once the people here get a taste of Jubjub, they're going to shun any near deer in the future. I made arrangements to take a Jumper out first thing in the morning and we went wandering down to the labs. At first I didn't want to take him into Rodney's main lab, but when we heard the shouting I figured we would be a good diversion for the rest of the staff. We stood in the doorway for a few minutes and watched as Rodney, red faced, stomped around and ranted about the deplorable condition the lab was in after only being gone one day, and the half dozen lab techs were all at their stations, heads down. I glanced around and honestly couldn't tell any difference from my previous visits.

Shadow leaned close to me. "He reminds me of a small primate back on my world," he said. "Even the coloring is similar. Very territorial beast – makes a lot of noise when you cross its boundary and scares away the game. When it gets to that state of agitation, it usually starts pelting my hunters with fecal matter." I snorted and thanked God Rodney didn't do that. Especially now while under the influence of too much tinu. Shadow continued. "We use them for blow gun practice at that point. We don't eat them – the meat is too stringy and tough. Not in the least bit edible."

I think Miko heard Shadow, because she turned around and blinked at us. Her usually huge eyes behind her glasses got even wider and her mouth opened into a startled 'o'. I bet she thought that was me speaking. Rodney whipped around. "Huh, I should have known. Have they started issuing the heavy-duty rebreathers yet? I haven't heard any quarantine alarms." Now that he was turned around I noticed he looked like hell. He was pale, but he wasn't sweating, and he had a gleam in his eyes that was slightly more manic than normal.

"Jeez, McKay, you look like shit," I said.

Rodney grimaced. "Please, do _not _say that word in my presence right now. I had to take the heavy duty stuff, and needless to say, a part of my body was about ready to secede from rest before it finally kicked in. Then Carson had the audacity to try to slip me something in some pudding. Can you believe that? What a sad, sorry waste of some perfectly good pudding." Then he suddenly stopped, and one hand came up and rather twitchily pointed at Shadow. "Wait, wait, wait – did you just compare me to a, a monkey?"

Shadow grinned and nodded. "A xuc." The way he said it made it sound like he was trying to clear something nasty from the back of his throat, and for a brief panicky second I imagined him going into a full body spasm and horking up a hairball. But he didn't, halle-fucking-lujah, and by now everyone had turned around and was staring at him in open wonder.

"You should have eaten the pudding," I said.

Rodney jutted out his jaw. "I am perfectly fine. Just a little – tense." From behind him I could see Miko and some of the others shaking their heads and had to struggle not to snort. Then in the next instant he giggled and said, "I heard Cadman tripped over a planter. Is that true?" We nodded. "Damn, I missed it. Oh well, I can hack into the security server later and get a copy."

"Um, Rodney – you said that last part out loud, and it bothers me," I said seriously. "Did you mean to?"

"Um, no," Rodney said, eyes huge.

I sighed. Then I narrowed my eyes. "Did Carson clear you for duty?"

"Yes," he answered abruptly and I just knew Carson hadn't.

"All right, you're coming with us," I said. When he just settled back and jut his jaw out, I glanced at Shadow. "Help me out here, kid." We both descended on Rodney and each grabbed him by the upper arm. "God damn, McKay, you haven't even showered yet."

Shadow wrinkled his nose as we marched him to the door. "You _smell_ like a xuc." He leaned forward enough so he could see me. "Did I mention the xuc nest in the tinu trees? That explains _their_ attitude …."

"Oh, har har," Rodney said as he broke free from our grasp. "I see a juvenile sense of humor is something that can't be genetically corrected." We were in the hall by now, and when he turned to go back into the lab we had the way blocked.

"Oh, no you don't. Off duty," I said and pointed down the hall.

Rodney straightened his shirt. "My computer is still in there." There was a shuffling from inside the lab and a second later a hand shot out of the door holding his computer. Rodney took it and glared back into the lab. "I'll remember this, Johannsen."

"I'm sure you will," I muttered and made shooing motions down the hall. "Go. My eyes are burning."

Shadow sneezed, and when Rodney glared at him he just shrugged as he rubbed his nose. Rodney rolled his eyes and started stomping down the hall. We stayed right with him, and before we rounded the corner I glanced back and saw everyone from the lab was wandering out into the hallway and staring at Shadow. I gave them a quick wave and cheesy little grin.

"So, have you two been leaving a trail of swooning women and chaos in your wake?" Rodney said with a smirk.

I frowned and shook my head.

"Huh, sticking to the back halls and deserted sections of the city, I take it?"

"Actually, we've been to the west pier, the botany labs, and the cafeteria," I said as we stepped into the transporter. "You missed Spam casserole."

Rodney glanced at his watch. "Damn!"

"And angel food cake with whipped cream," Shadow added wistfully. He glanced at me. "Will there be more later?"

"I'm pretty sure," I said.

Rodney was looking at Shadow. "Did you get to try the pudding? Because the pudding cups are really good – especially when they're not tampered with by glorified veterinarians, that is." At Shadow's nod Rodney grinned crookedly. "Hmm. I could really go for some pudding right now. Oooo, some of that chocolate with the fudge layer on top." As we left the transporter and escorted Rodney to his room he kept going on about pudding. "Now the layered puddings are good, too – chocolate/vanilla, chocolate/butterscotch, the chocolate/chocolate kind of defeated the purpose, however. The trick to eating those is to get an even distribution of the layers on your spoon so the flavors create a wonderful kaleidoscope of taste in your mouth. Then there are _some_ people with hair gel addictions who _insist_ on eating them a layer at a time, which is so totally not the point. If you're going to do that then quit wasting time and just get the individual flavors."

I just rolled my eyes and Shadow had his eyebrows crooked worriedly as he watched Rodney babble out of the corner of his eyes. Yeah, if you're not used to it I bet it is rather alarming to witness, especially when he's wired.

"I can't believe I missed the Spam casserole," Rodney continued without a break from the subject of pudding. "Now the cooks have several variations. The best is with the green beans, the broccoli – eh, not so much. And avoid the concoction with spinach at all costs. Then there was the travesty with the lima beans, and let's just say after I was through with them they will never consider _that_ combination ever again. It, it, it, it was just sick and wrong. Oooo, the Spam stew is amazing – maybe they'll serve that while you're here - and Spam and scalloped potatoes. And if there are leftovers of that they make Spam chowder." Rodney sighed. And in the next instant he was grimacing. "Remember when they tried Spam scampi?" he said and looked at me.

My stomach did a slow roll at the memory. "It was hard to forget."

Rodney nodded. "The smell stayed in the city for days and they never would give me the name of the freak who came up with that one. And let me tell you, he would have stayed ionized _for a year_. Fried Spam sandwiches with deli mustard are good, so is Spam and macaroni and cheese. Huh, I wonder if they could make Spam ravioli? Don't you think that would be good? It sounds good."

We had reached the door to his quarters and the second the door opened I pushed him in. "Go shower, Spameril." I closed the door on his protest and looked at my watch. I sauntered to the other side of the hall, eyes still on my watch, and leaned against the wall. I could see Shadow watching me out of the corner of my eye and I just waved at him to join me. Forty-seven seconds and a new record later Rodney's door opened and he had taken two steps down the hall before he registered us standing there. I crossed my arms.

"I was just, um, checking, ah …. Crap." He turned around and went back into his quarters.

I sighed heavily. "He normally doesn't require this much supervision," I said apologetically to Shadow. "How much longer do you think it'll be before he crashes?"

Shadow leaned against the wall, too. "His scent is still pretty heavy with tinu. It could be hours yet."

"Crap." I still wasn't very tired yet from just the one, but I was starting to get that slightly floating, disjointed feeling you get with cold medicine. I scrubbed my face hard then ran my hand back through my hair. "Well, get comfortable – I think we'll have to drag him along with us just to keep him out of trouble."

Shadow yawned as he slid down the wall and sat, his arms on his upraised knees. "I think I will close my eyes while we wait." He put his forehead on his arms, and I swear within four breaths he was sound asleep. Damn, kind of gives a new meaning to cat nap.

Not quite twenty minutes later Rodney came back out, a half eaten Powerbar in his hand. He hadn't shaved, but at least I couldn't smell him from ten feet away. He blinked and said, "You still here?"

Shadow's head snapped up and he blinked a few times before he yawned.

"Yeah." And as much as I really hated to say the next part, "Want to join us?"

Rodney grimaced crookedly. "Wow, can you contain that enthusiasm there? It could be catching. Don't want Carson coming after us with tainted pudding, now, do we?" He shoved half of the remainder of his Powerbar in his mouth.

I sneered at him. "I figured you wouldn't mind. After all, you do know the city better than anyone." That's it, stroke the ol' ego.

Rodney gave is head that twitchy, waggle/nod. "Well, yes, I do."

Shadow stood and stretched, hands in the small of his back, and we both heard a few faint pops and snaps. "I am curious about how your city handles its water supply," he said to Rodney. "Especially since the ocean outside is obviously salty."

"Well, I can show you that," Rodney said and sounded a little surprised. "We can access that system from the Chair Room."

"Chair room?" Shadow asked.

"Yes." Rodney frowned. "That's right – your lab didn't have one. Come on – you'll like this. It gives access to the every system in the city with just a thought."

As we started down the hall I seriously wondered if showing Shadow how to gain access to the entire city was a good thing. Then I just wrote that off as the paranoid head of security part of my brain putting in its two-cents worth. Besides, I seriously doubt Rodney would put Shadow in the chair. I mean, _he_ can activate the thing – it takes him a moment, but he can bring things up. He can't make it sing and dance like I can, but still – he wouldn't put him in the thing, would he? We do have protocols. I was about to say something to Rodney when Shadow's next words distracted me.

"I can do that with the Temple," he said.

Rodney stopped dead in his tracks. "You, you can? Where?"

"Down in control," Shadow replied. He stopped, too, and turned to face us. "I'm the first to have access since the Ancients deserted the place." He delivered the words plainly, but I caught a glimpse of fang again. "It makes monitoring the 'Gate much easier. Before we used to have a watcher, but now the second it activates, I know." He tapped his temple. "Up here."

"You … you interface directly with the lab?" Rodney asked. He appeared equal parts fascinated and ill, and I don't think it was from side effects of the tinu.

The revelation just made me feel … ill. And a tiny bit pissed. "When you said you had direct access, you weren't kidding," I said quietly.

"And the other Guardians, they didn't," Rodney said, one hand flapping up near his temple.

Shadow shook his head. "I suspect the information download at the end of the cloning process caused an anomaly due to the – what did Dr. Beckett call it?" His eyebrows raised briefly. "The ATA gene. I didn't know what was happening at first – shortly after I … woke I would get very ill with terrible headaches because of this constant 'noise' in my head. It wasn't until I was in the control room one day and accidentally activated the master display that the noise began to abate. No, abate isn't the correct word." He frowned as he thought for a moment. "Organize? Unify? No – structuralize. It took some time to become used to it, and now it is just …." He frowned again. "Background noise." He shrugged and offered a slightly sheepish grin. "I am enjoying the quiet at the moment."

"Can you, um, 'hear' anything from Atlantis?" I asked curiously.

Shadow cocked his head and his eyes got far away. Then his eyebrows furrowed. "No. But there is a … presence."

"Oh, that is just so wild," Rodney said as he glanced around nervously.

"When your people came through the 'Gate the other day, I knew." Shadow took in a deep breath. "I could also feel it when they accessed the lab, and since I had no idea who it was, or if the villagers were safe, I forced my hunters back early from our search."

That gave me a little twinge of guilt.

"Out of curiosity, have you mentioned any of this to Carson?" Rodney asked.

Shadow shook his head. "That is why I had him run so many scans – I was hoping your equipment might be able to pick up a physical reason for my … link. I even compared brain activity between myself and Dr. Beckett, but didn't detect anything out of the ordinary."

"Huh, now that bit of information I don't find entirely too unsurprising," Rodney muttered and popped the last of his Powerbar in his mouth. He started down the hall and chewed as he thought. We fell into step next to him, and by the time we hit the lift he said, "I don't know about actually putting you _in_ the Chair – don't want the city to suddenly decide to directly interface with you and make your brains leak out of your ears from the overload."

"That would be bad," I muttered.

"But we can put the Colonel in the chair; then that would be okay."

I thought nothing of the comment, until I saw Rodney's smirk. "Hey!" We stepped into the lift. "And you call me an asshole."

On the way to the Chair Room Rodney insisted on a detour to the cafeteria. He was too late for any leftover casserole, but he did snag a couple peanut butter and banana sandwiches and the rest of the chocolate pudding cups. He even managed to get another piece of angel food cake for Shadow, and the kid helped him carry his booty.

We got to the room after a walking feeding frenzy that was awesome to behold, and shortly after I parked my butt in the chair I discovered something more effective than a white noise machine and a full body massage for putting someone out like a light – geek technobabble on the variances between desalination of seawater and the extraction of sulfur dioxide from volcanic leach water. Or something to that effect - after the third time I nodded off and was nearly flung from the chair as it disengaged I excused myself. The tinu was wearing off and I was crashing hard, and sitting still was just not helping matters. Shadow appeared a little panicked at the prospect of being left alone with Rodney, but I assured him the easiest way to keep him out of trouble was to point at some random reading or chart or graph and say, "Oh, hey, that's interesting," and the man would be occupied for _hours_. That didn't seem to help Shadow's state of mind. As a matter of fact I saw his eyes dilate a bit and his breathing speed up. I thought about taking him out into the hall and showing him a sleeper hold for emergencies, but decided that was probably not a good idea - we actually did need all of Rodney's brain cells whole and functioning.

"If he gets too out of hand, just say you have an appointment with Elizabeth to discuss trade issues. That should shut him down."

Shadow smiled faintly, and I wasn't sure if it was the prospect of talking to Elizabeth or shutting Rodney up.

"And if you do go talk to her, make sure Carson knows he's running around unsupervised. Okay?"

"I will," Shadow replied. We were by the door and he glanced at Rodney. "Since he has eaten, the smell of tinu is starting to weaken. Hopefully he will be coming down soon."

"Good," I said and stifled a yawn that damn near made me drool. "Remember, the key is 'distraction'. Come get me for dinner." I patted Shadow on the shoulder and wandered off. He should be okay. I hope.

I made arrangements with Carpenter to borrow his surf board in the morning and a detour by the armory to see if we had any spare wetsuits for Shadow to use before I finally made it to my own quarters. I didn't even bother taking my radio headpiece off – I just flopped down on my back and after a few tinu-induced bed spins I was out.


	7. VII: Best Laid Plans

_A/N: I have to admit - when I wrote this first paragraph I sat in my chair, stared at my computer for an hour, and thought, "Okay, now where in the hell to do go from here?" I blame the pain pills ..._

**VII: Best Laid Plans **

My door chimed and I was startled awake from a very disturbing dream where I was the Tin Man, Shadow was the Cowardly Lion, and we were besieged by a flock of shit slinging flying monkeys that all had Rodney's face and were wearing little Starbuck's paper hats and aprons. I sat up and immediately decided two things before I was even fully awake; one, I was never going to eat a tinu ever again, and two, I was never going to tell _anyone_ about that dream for as long as I lived. The door chimed again and I scrubbed hard at my face to try to get the images of the dream out of my head – I think the damn monkeys even had bright red butts like baboons. "Oh, man," I muttered as I thought the lights on and shuffled over to the door. I ran my hand over my hair in a sad attempt to get it to lay flat before I opened it and found Shadow and Rodney standing there. I glanced at my watch. "Wow, it's that time already?" I only felt like I'd been asleep a few minutes, but it was closer to three hours.

"Corral your chia symbiote – it's time to eat," Rodney said and snapped his fingers. "I want to get there before all the good corner pieces of the cheesy Spam bake are gone."

Shadow's eyes met mine – they were wider than normal and I knew deep down in my gut he was ready to throttle me. I grimaced. "Still flying, huh?" I said quietly to Shadow as I stepped out into the hall.

Shadow nodded and said just as quietly, "And I don't understand why – he quit smelling like tinu awhile ago."

"Um, hello – right here," Rodney sing-songed.

"Yeah, kinda hard not to notice," I said. "Did you two spend all this time in the Chair Room?" We started down the hall.

"No, we only stayed a couple hours, then went down to check out the main water treatment facility." Rodney gave Shadow and actual pat on the back. "The kid here showed me how to increase outflow by nearly eight per cent. Then we spent some time in the 'Gate Room going over some of the systems the Ancients activated. I'm going to ask Weir if we can trade him for Zelenka – he has a gift for Ancient technology."

Shadow gave me a pained, pleading look. "You should have pulled the Elizabeth card," I whispered.

"I tried, she even came out once, but I couldn't get away. I needed a blow gun," he whispered back.

"Again, right here," Rodney piped in.

"We know," I said. "Jesus, I'm sorry, kid." Shadow only growled quietly in reply and Rodney and I both flinched a little. "I promise not to leave you alone with him ever again." But damn, I really needed that snooze after the tinu wore off.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "All right, now that we have established I'm horrible to be stuck with, can we please go get dinner?"

"Oh wow, you actually said please," I said and grinned as we stepped into the lift. "There may be hope for you yet." And just because I knew he was going to say it, I said _asshole_ the same time he did.

An hour later I was kicked back in my chair with some coffee. Elizabeth was next to me with a bottle of water, a slightly horrified grimace on her face. Ronon sat across from her and was canted back in his chair, arms crossed, and smirking. "Ya know, kind of reminds me of 'Shark Week'," I drawled. "Only with more carnage."

Apparently, not only did Shadow have the vitals of a cat, he had the metabolism of one, too. They had meatloaf that actually tasted like it was made from honest to God beef as well as the cheesy Spam bake, and between him and Rodney with his tinu revved appetite they polished off enough for four people, including dessert. And the good thing was the more Rodney ate, the more he wound down, so by the time he was shoveling the last bite of German chocolate cake into his mouth he was close to going lips down on his tray. Shadow glanced briefly at me and Elizabeth and flashed us one helluva wicked grin. "I should have done this sooner," he said.

Rodney dropped his fork onto his tray. "Oh my God," he said. "I can't believe I ate all of that."

"It was rather – frightening to witness," Elizabeth said.

"Remind me to never eat … whatever that was ever again," Rodney said as he pushed his tray away and laid his head down on his arms.

"Tinu," Shadow supplied as he swiped the one unopened pudding cup from Rodney's tray. At the sound of him pulling the foil top back Rodney groaned.

"Where do you put it?" I asked.

"Changing requires a lot of calories," Shadow said after his first big spoonful. "And I've been awake for well over a day now."

"Sorry," I said as I realized that short nap upstairs was the most he'd slept since, well, our team arrived on his world. "We'll show you the guest quarters after this."

"Thank you," he said, and a minute later he was using his finger to get the rest of the pudding. Rodney was a very bad influence.

"Major Lorne checked in just before you came to get me for dinner," Elizabeth said. "Nothing unexpected has happened, except for it actually quit raining for nearly an hour and Dr. Zelenka cleaned them out of every dose of Imodium they had in their emergency field kits."

"Good!" came the muffled reply from Rodney.

Shadow chuffed and leaned back in his chair. "If he is still in distress the next time you speak to him, ask Teyla to have Kintu get him some mehuac root. It will help."

"I will pass that along," Elizabeth said. She set her bottle on her tray and stood. "If you will excuse me, I have a few more reports to go over before I can call it a night. Shadow, you will come see me after your trip to the mainland tomorrow?"

"I will," he said and offered her a brief smile.

Rodney let out a short snort of a snore and I kicked him under the table. It wasn't hard, but he sat bolt upright and blinked. "Huh? What?"

"You were talking in your sleep," I said, deadpan.

"Huh?" Rodney said and looked a little panicked.

"Something about chickens," Ronon added, then glanced my way and smirked.

When Elizabeth couldn't hold back a short laugh, Rodney glowered at both of us. "Assholes," he grumbled through a yawn. When he got a disapproving frown from Elizabeth he said, "Well, they are."

I snorted as I stood and picked up my tray. "C'mon kid, let's get you settled for the night." We followed Elizabeth and turned our trays in. As we left the cafeteria I glanced over at Rodney and saw Ronon had him by the scruff of his shirt and was leading him towards the dish line. Rodney was swaying like he was drunk. Damn, those things may pack a helluva wallop, but the crash is even more impressive.

Shadow was watching, too. "I cannot believe he ate three."

"I can," I said.

"I do hope Radek is all right," Elizabeth said. She glanced worriedly at Shadow. "He will be, won't he?"

Shadow was in mid yawn when he nodded. "As long as he doesn't get dehydrated, he should be fine."

"That's good. Well, gentlemen – good night."

"'Night," I said with a nod as she parted company with us. I turned and saw Shadow watching her a little too intently as she walked away so I cleared my throat. He gave me a little smirk as he turned back around. "Behave," I said and he tried to give me an innocent look. _Yeah, right_.

The guest quarters were on the same level as the cafeteria but on the other side of the tower. It was a nice large suite complete with a killer balcony, and that was the first place Shadow headed. I joined him and we just stood there in silence for several minutes and enjoyed the view. The sun was behind us so the sky we faced was a pale turquoise overhead but a deep blue over a blue-gray sea at the horizon, and some of the brighter stars were visible. The city was lit with that low golden light that made details stand out in sharp relief, and in the shadows cast by the towers you could see lights reflected on the fairly calm water. You know, even after nearly three years this place still takes my breath away.

"It is hard to believe such a cold race could create something so beautiful," Shadow said.

I turned my head his way, eyebrow raised. He regarded me in a similar fashion. "Yeah, I haven't been feeling much love for the Ancients myself lately."

Shadow leaned forward on the railing and chuffed. "I have the reminiscences of nine Guardians in my head. It is difficult to _not_ be prejudiced."

"I can imagine." I turned around, leaned my butt against the rail, and crossed my arms. "Waking up in that damn … pod wouldn't help, either."

He drew his lips in and was silent for a minute. "My predecessor was cloned from a traveler through the stargate. She was a warrior, a leader of her people – they were escaping the Wraith and found sanctuary on my world. She was gravely injured when they came through, and she died from her injuries shortly thereafter. Her people only stayed long enough to heal, then moved on to another world." His gaze dropped to where his arms rested on the railing, and when he spoke his voice was barely audible over the waves. "She lived the longest of all the Guardians by several centuries – I don't know how she survived witnessing so much life and … loss."

And between the lines I could clearly hear, _I don't know if I can do it_. I nudged his shoulder. "Hey, you're going to do fine. Just think – you have _centuries_ of experience to draw from. Most people don't even have years – they wind up flying by the seat of their pants."

"But how will I know it is enough?"

He turned his head towards me and all I could think was, _God damn, did I ever look that young?_ "Hell, I don't think anyone really knows until they have to, well, _do_."

"Your people seem very confident. _You_ seem very confident."

I snorted. "Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving. We all do the best we can, take it day by day, and hope that whatever shows up on the horizon tomorrow doesn't have bigger guns than us." I gave him a lopsided grin. "And if you're Rodney, you just yell louder." _And build a bigger nuke,_ I added mentally.

"In my case, I believe that would be roar louder."

"Exactly!" I nudged his shoulder again, harder this time, and was happy to see a hint of a grin appear on his face as he rolled from the motion. "And just remember, as long as you have your tea … someone to watch your back, you can face anything and survive."

Shadow chuffed and returned his attention to his hands. "Kintu has taken it upon himself to be the guardian of the Guardian. He frets …."

"Like a mother hen. Yeah, we have a couple of those here, too. There's no escaping them, and they mean well." When he yawned a moment later I straightened up. "I should probably let you get some sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"The ocean," he said, a slow wicked smile lighting his face.

"The ocean," I repeated. I was just leaving the balcony when a thought struck me. I turned around. "Um, you do know how to swim, don't you?"

Shadow frowned as he cocked his head. "I … do have a memory of it. I believe I can." He shrugged. "I guess I will find out tomorrow."

"Huh." I tried to remember if we had any PFD's in stock. Damn, I wasn't sure. "Well, get some sleep – I'll be by to get you for breakfast."

Shadow nodded. "I think I will sit out here for awhile."

When I left he was just a silhouette staring out at the city, the glow of the sunset fading from the towers and the lights of Atlantis slowing coming into their own.

oOo

I didn't dream about flying monkeys with red butts and attitudes that night, thank God, but I did have one where I was hunting urtal in the depths of Atlantis with Ronon. We never did see one of the big cats, but we could hear them, and every so often we kept coming across bloody drag marks and paw prints in the dark corridors. When we came across the scraps of embroidered cloth and jade beads I snapped awake. Then my alarm went off and I damn near jumped out of my skin. I smacked the sonuvabitch clean off the table and was happy to see it rebounded off the wall about ten inches from its usual spot. One of these days I'm going to tape a target there and keep a running score. I'll be curious to see how many points the clock will last. I'm figuring, oh, sixty, tops.

I did my normal morning run, showered, and by the time I hit the cafeteria level I had pretty much forgotten about the dream. As I rounded the last corner that led to the guest quarters I saw the door open and Nurse Carrie leaving. She was moving a little slowly and was halfway down the hallway before she noticed me, and when she did she turned bright red and picked up her pace. I nodded as she passed, she said _colonel_ and turned an even darker shade. I resisted the urge to turn around and watch her – she was squirming enough as it. But it didn't stop me from chuckling. Ya know, it didn't really surprise me. It just didn't.

I stopped in front of the door and after a couple chimes with nothing happening, I opened it. I wandered slowly through the small sitting area in hopes of giving Shadow enough time to pull himself together, but when I got to the bedroom door I saw he was still sprawled kinda diagonally across the top of the bed. And he was in his half form and thankfully on his stomach. Okay, that brought up images I really did _not _want to contemplate. I cleared my throat. One ear flicked. I walked over, kicked the bed, and one eye opened and regarded me. "Breakfast?" I prompted. Shadow chuffed. "I'll wait out in the hall," I said and turned around before I could see anything I really didn't want to as he started to roll over. I already noticed he had a little stub of a tail in that form, and that was more than enough information at this time, thank you very much.

I was leaning back against the wall, arms crossed, when Shadow came out not quite twenty minutes later. His hair was damp, and as he slid on the hoodie he gave me a sheepish smirk. "Sorry. I'm more comfortable in that form," he said as if he needed to give me an explanation.

I held up a hand. "Don't want to know," I said and Shadow actually turned a little red and ducked his head. "Food?"

Shadow nodded enthusiastically.

It was no surprise Rodney and Ronon were already in the cafeteria. We loaded down our trays with enough scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon for three, maybe even four people. And cottage cheese. For some reason Shadow was just _fascinated_ by the cottage cheese, and once we sat down with Rodney and Ronon he took one bite, grinned, took a bite of scrambled egg, grinned even wider, and happily mixed the two together. I thought Rodney was going to puke, and Ronon just grunted in approval.

And speaking of Rodney, he still looked like, heh, crap this morning. Apparently a tinu hangover kicked about as hard as a tequila one, judging by the blood shot eyes and the way he flinched at any overly loud noise. He watched Shadow eat for a moment, then pushed his own half eaten breakfast away. He held his left hand up like a blinder so he couldn't see Shadow and just concentrated on his coffee.

Ronon pounced. "You going to eat that?"

Rodney gave a sickly little wave at his tray. "Knock yourself out."

"What is that?" Shadow asked around a mouthful and pointed at a foil wrapped item on the tray.

"Pop Tart," I said.

Shadow swallowed. "Are they good?"

"I don't care for them," Ronon said as he tossed the package down on the table near Shadow's tray.

Shadow figured out the packaging in no time, and when he broke off a chunk of what looked like frosted Strawberry from this angle and tried it, his face lit up. Then he started alternating bites of egg/cottage cheese slop and sausage with Pop Tart and chewed away happily.

"Oh, dear God," Rodney sputtered and turned his back to Shadow. "That is just … sick and wrong. Tell me when the mutant garbage disposal is done."

_Well, pot, meet kettle_, I thought. I just chuckled as I grabbed the Tabasco and doused my eggs. Shadow cocked his head and I handed him the bottle. He took a sniff, made that great face again, and handed it back to me.

"Please tell me he isn't adding that to his, his travesty," Rodney whined.

"He isn't, you wuss," I said.

Rodney grunted in relief.

"I hear you're going to the mainland this morning," Ronon said around a bite. "Mind if I come along?"

I raised my eyebrows at Shadow. "I don't mind," the kid said.

"Thought I'd show the kid how to surf."

Ronon perked up, which in Ronon's case meant he lifted his eyebrows. "I've heard Carpenter talk about surfing. I'd like to try it."

I eyed Ronon. Well, that surprised me. Huh. I wonder if Thorgerson would let me borrow his board this morning, too. That way I can put Shadow on mine, Ronon on Carpenter's …. "Do you have anything that isn't leather?" I asked because I was pretty sure we didn't have any wetsuits that would fit him.

Ronon nodded.

"Okay. Cool." All we needed now was a cooler, some brews, and some babes in bikinis. Then I glanced at Shadow and noticed he was tracking someone across the room again. I turned my head and saw the same dark haired woman from yesterday. She didn't notice this time since she was with some other people and talking with them. Nope, babes in bikinis would be a bad idea – the kid would probably get terminal whiplash. "Meet us up in the Jumper bay at oh-eight-thirty."

Well, we didn't get a chance to go to the mainland. Hell, I only got as far as retrieving my duffle from the infirmary before the call came. I was watching Shadow and Nurse Carrie trying to be nonchalant and failing miserably when Elizabeth's voice said in my ear, "Colonel Sheppard and Shadow, please report to the Gate Room."

I recognized the tight delivery as I tapped my earpiece. "This is Sheppard. What happened?" Shadow suddenly glanced my way and lifted his chin inquiringly. I waved at him to follow as I headed for the door.

"Major Lorne is on vid – he's requesting to speak to both of you immediately."

"We're just a few floors down. Be there in a sec. Sheppard out." I turned my head and wasn't surprised to see Shadow next to me. "We're needed upstairs." He nodded, and without a word we both broke into a jog. A second later I heard the call for Carson and a med team to stand-by and we increased our speed.

Less than a minute later we were standing next to Elizabeth. Lorne's expression was set, all business, and it was clear he was in the Jumper. "Report, Major."

"Sir. I and the men were accompanying a group of the women, along with Dr. Brown, her people, Teyla, and Kintu and three of his hunters outside the wall. We were less than a hundred yards from the jungle perimeter when the hunters were attacked."

"Was anyone hurt?" Shadow asked immediately.

"Not seriously," Lorne replied. "Kintu's bird was killed and he has a possible broken arm, and another hunter is scraped and bruised, nothing serious. The women are all unharmed. I, Teyla, Morales, and Ferguson were able to take care of the threat." Now Lorne was starting to frown, and that made me concerned. "Sir. Shadow. You need to come see this."

"Will you need a med team?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not a full one, ma'am. But I think the doc better come, too." She nodded in reply and stepped aside to speak into her headset. Then Lorne fixed his eyes on mine. "And, sir? I would like to request a couple more men."

The way he set his mouth set my teeth on edge. "Understood." I glanced at Shadow – the kid was so utterly still and intent it upped my nervousness. "As soon as Carson gets here you go with him. I'll follow with a team."

Shadow nodded once and headed for the stairs.

"I'll ferry Shadow and the doc to the village as soon as they come through," Lorne said. "Then I'll be right back for you, sir."

"Is there any immediate danger?" I asked.

Lorne shook his head. "Kintu ordered everyone to stay in the village and keep the gate closed until Shadow returns."

"All right, Major. See you in a few. Atlantis out." The connection died and the 'gate closed a moment later. I nodded to Chuck and he immediately began dialing back for our people.

"Carson will be here shortly," Elizabeth said to me as I glanced her way. "Give me a report as soon as you can."

I nodded as I trotted past her and towards the lift so I could get geared up. I tapped my earpiece. "Ronon, team eight – report to the Gate Room immediately, full gear. Wait for me. Sheppard out." I glanced down at the main floor as I passed the stairs and saw Shadow pacing and stripping out of his borrowed clothes. It was getting a few reactions, but I have a feeling the faint low growling I could hear coming from him was deterring some of the more overt ones. The 'gate dialed in a second later and as soon as he was free of the jeans he was through. I could hear Carson enter a moment later as the lift doors closed on me.

Less than twenty minutes later I, Ronon, and four more Marines were just stepping out of the 'gate and Lorne was bringing the Jumper back around. A few seconds later I heard someone exit the 'gate and I turned to see Rodney, fully geared up and red faced. "Okay, what's going on?" he gasped out as he leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. "I heard the call."

"Nothing you needed to worry about," I said. It wasn't raining and the clouds overhead actually showed patches of blue as I tracked the Jumper as it came in for a landing on the pyramid.

"Like hell," Rodney said as one hand came up and danced as he spoke. "You called Ronon. If I'm remembering things correctly – and you know damn well I am – he is on the same team I am on. Therefore, if he's here, then I should be here. Case closed." He stood up straight and jut his jaw out.

I sighed. "Fine. Get in the damn Jumper." We piled in and were airborne in a matter of seconds. I sat in the co-pilot's seat, Rodney behind me, and glanced at Lorne. "Talk to me."

Lorne kept his attention focused on the controls as he spoke. "The women were digging for roots this morning and showing Dr. Brown how to as well. Kintu and his boys were riding perimeter and me, Teyla, Morales, and Ferguson were guarding the women when we all heard a, well, _scream_ come from deeper in the jungle."

"Katie is all right?" Rodney interrupted. I shushed him with a wave.

Lorne nodded before he continued. "It sounded a lot like the ones from the other night, and the women immediately stopped what they were doing and grouped together. The four of us formed a perimeter and we started ushering everyone back to the village." Lorne brought the Jumper down through the canopy and started to land. "We had just entered the cleared perimeter around the wall when one of the hunters came back and ordered everyone back to the village. We kept everyone covered until they were behind the wall, and as we were coming back Kintu and his bird came out of the jungle with this _thing_ in pursuit."

"Thing?" Rodney and I both said as the back hatch opened and the Jumper powered down.

"I thought it was another one of those cats that you and Shadow killed the other night, sir," Lorne replied. "Then it tackled Kintu's bird, he went sailing, and we got a better look at it. We opened fire the second Kintu was clear." As Lorne got up from his seat he flashed me a tight frown. "It was running on two legs when it came out of the jungle, sir."

I froze halfway through the rear compartment and Rodney ran into me. Ronon and the Marines were already waiting for us outside. "Was it like Shadow when he is … changed?" Rodney asked.

"Yes, and no," Lorne said. "It didn't look, well, right. It was like it was half finished and … sick. We helped drag it back to the gate."

I grunted and we exited the Jumper, and as soon as we cleared the ramp I could see Carson, Teyla, Shadow, Kintu, and several of his hunters, their Jubjubs tethered nearby, all clustered around something about thirty feet from the gate. Carson was checking Kintu's arm and Shadow was crouched down on the balls of his feet when we jogged up. I glanced down and flinched. "Jesus Christ!"

It had the same spotted golden fur of an urtal, but the coat was dull, matted, and large patches of it were missing altogether. In the bald patches were scabs and lumps that resembled gray cauliflower. Its shoulders and chest were oddly out of proportion to the rest of the body, and the head thrust forward at an unnatural angle. It definitely walked upright judging from the position of its narrow hips, and it had hands as opposed to paws. The most disturbing part of the creature was the strips of badly tanned pale leather it had wrapped around its middle, forearms, and lower legs - some it bore distinctive tattoos in faded red and black, and the belt was adorned with recognizably _human_ jawbones. And _stink _– damn, I was starting to regret eating breakfast.

"Okay, now _that_ is why it is a really _bad_ idea to give a nasty predator opposable thumbs!" Rodney blurted out as he stared in horror at the creature on the ground.

Shadow suddenly shot to his feet. Rodney flinched back out of the way and I was just waiting for a girly scream. He spoke rapidly with Kintu and the hunters. The hunters quickly mounted up and Kintu acted as if to join but was waved back by Shadow. When the wiry man started to protest Shadow growled and bared his teeth at him before turning to Carson. "Doctor, please see to his arm. We are going to follow its trail before the rains come and destroy it."

"We'll follow," I said.

Shadow shook his head as he started to unclip his belt. "We'll be moving fast. Please, stay here and protect my people."

Before I could protest he dropped what little clothing he had as he turned, dove forward, and was running on all fours in the time it took for me to register he wasn't _completely_ hairless in his human form. He and his three hunters disappeared into the jungle perimeter in a matter of seconds.

I turned my back to the jungle and saw Lorne's eyes were wide and his cheeks twitched, once. He wisely kept his mouth shut. The Marines behind him, however, had their mouths open and Ronon was smirking. I narrowed my eyes and at least the Marines straightened up.

Zelenka's mildly panicked voice came over our radios. "Major, I just picked up four life signs heading into the jungle. Are you all right?"

I tapped my earpiece. "We're fine – that was Shadow and his boys."

"Colonel! You both made it. Good. Good." There was a short pause and a few unintelligible murmurs in Czech. "I am tracking them on sensors, but the growth of the deeper jungle is causing some interference."

"Rodney, could you …?"

"I'm on it," he said before I could finish and took off at a decent trot.

"Radek, keep an eye on them. And when Rodney gets there, see if you two can kill the null field – I want communications up and running inside the wall."

"Will do, Colonel," he replied. "Will keep you updated."

I just grunted and killed the transmission.

"I'm going to take Kintu to the Temple and scan his arm," Carson said. "I'm sure the break is a clean one – setting it will be easy." He motioned for Kintu to follow, but the man shook his head. "Teyla, dear, could you help?"

It was an effort for Teyla to tear her gaze away from the monstrosity on the ground. She offered Carson a small smile, but her grip on her P90 didn't relax. "Certainly." She joined them and it took a couple minutes of gentle persuasion before the little guy agreed to be led away. He was in noticeable pain, but his concern for Shadow outweighed it. _Jeez, now who does that remind me of?_ I thought and grimaced. Before they got to the gate Carson motioned them on and returned. He sat his pack down and quickly fished out a syringe to take a blood sample from the dead critter. He flashed me a tight grimace before he trotted away.

My curiosity was getting the better of me and I crouched down next to the corpse. I coughed a few times as the smell of rot and musk got stronger. "Major, as soon as we have communications, I want a couple men up on the wall." I put the barrel of my P90 under its chin and lifted it. Its fangs weren't as long as a regular urtal's and one was broken at the tip, and its face was still more cat than human. And it definitely wasn't … _natural_. "And when the null field is down, bring the Jumper in."

"Yes, sir."

I dropped the head and stood up, then with a boot to a mangy shoulder rolled the thing over onto its back. The first thing I noticed was an obsidian bladed knife in its belt. The second thing was the necklace of teeth and what I think were finger bones. I drew my lips in and fought the urge to kick the thing in the head. Repeatedly.

Ronon came over and pulled the knife from the belt and examined it. The blade was crude, poorly made, and the haft was made of bone. "They're smart enough to make their own weapons," he rumbled as he dropped the knife on the ground next to the body. "You think it's related to …."

"Fuck, I hope not," I said just a little too quickly under my breath. I squinted towards the jungle and hoped the kid and his hunters were okay.

"Null field is down," Zelenka suddenly said in my ear. "Rodney is working on diverting power from that system to boost scanner sensitivity."

I nodded to Lorne, who in turn pulled the two smallest Marines aside and told them where to find access to the top of the wall. A second later he trotted over to the Jumper and had it airborne in no time. He had wandered back out to join us before we heard from Rodney and Zelenka again.

"Holy crap!" Rodney said between mild gasps a moment later. "Do you know how many life signs there are in a _jungle_?"

The corner of my mouth twitched as I tapped my radio. "Oh, trust me - I have an idea. Narrow the parameters down."

"Huh, now why didn't I think of that? Thank you, colonel – how could I ever function without your valuable input?" I could hear Rodney mutter over the connection as he worked. "Ah, got it! I have Shadow and his hunters on screen, about two klicks in."

_Wow, they _were_ moving fast_, I thought.

"And we are picking up a dozen more signs," Zelenka added.

A tense couple minutes passed, and when Rodney started speaking I went cold. "Oh, no. No no no no no. That's not good. I think Shadow was spotted – the other signs are closing in."

"Shit," I said and took a couple steps towards the jungle.

"Okay, okay, that's good. He's turning around. They're all turning around." There was a pause before he followed with, "Oh, shit. They're being _chased_."

Without a word I raised my weapon and trained it on the jungle as I thumbed the safety off. Ronon moved off to the side and did the same thing, and judging from the sound of movement behind me the remaining Marines were fanning out to provide cover as well. "Sing out when they're close," I said.

A second later the two Marines on the wall let me know they were in position.

Zelenka swore suddenly. "One of Shadow's party has been overtaken. No, wait, one is turning back."

_That would be Shadow,_ I thought. _Damn him._

"He's engaged enemy," Zelenka said. He figured out who it was. Then he let out a short _hah_! "He and other sign are coming back this way."

"Yeah, but not as fast as before," Rodney added. "And I've picked up more signs deeper in." He was quiet a moment. "At least thirty total."

The next few minutes were some of the tensest I've ever waited through. Twice more the two lagging life signs were overtaken, and twice more they managed to escape. But after the second time they were moving much slower than before.

"I see movement," Pawlowski called from the top of the wall. A second later the first hunter exploded through the brush, his knees flexed and bent over the back of his mount like he was riding a thoroughbred in the Derby instead of a seven foot tall feathered super predator. The second hunter came through just as fast, but he was barely holding onto his Jubjub's neck instead of the reins. The broken shaft of an arrow was sticking up from his right calf, and as he got closer I could tell his leg was actually _pinned _to the bird. The first hunter reined his mount up so hard the bird damn near sat, and he instantly whirled it around and caught the other bird by the bridle and led him quickly towards the gate.

"Here they come," Rodney said a moment later, and Pawlowski confirmed movement.

A riderless Jubjub came lurching into the clearing. Blood coated its neck and chest, and one of its tiny wings was hanging by a few strands of gristle. It made it halfway across before it just collapsed, then continued to struggle to get back to its feet as it made surprisingly dainty chirping sounds.

"I see him," Ronon said and took a couple steps forward, gun ready.

Shadow burst through the brush in his half form, crouched over and a wounded hunter draped over his shoulders. His mouth was open and he was panting hard as he charged towards us, and not too far behind him were half a dozen pale shapes bounding through the undergrowth. As soon as Shadow shot between me and Ronon I shouted, "Fire!"

The staccato roar of P90 fire filled the air and birds in the closer trees took flight. We literally mowed down underbrush along with pursuers, and after maybe fifteen seconds I held up a fist. The quiet that fell was only interrupted by the weak chirping of the fallen Jubjub and some really nasty _wet _sounds coming from just inside the jungle.

"You got all but two," Rodney said over the radio. "But I'm picking up a lot more, deeper in. At least two dozen."

"Are they moving?" I asked as I watched Ronon walk over to the fallen bird and shoot it in the head.

"No, they are just standing there," Zelenka supplied.

"Pawlowski, can you see anything?"

"No, sir. Jungle is too thick."

"Crap," I muttered.

Then the screaming started.

_A/N: Yeah, I'm a stinker. My mother would agree wholeheartedly. :)_


	8. VIII: Black Sheep

_A/N: I studied archaeology in college, and one of my favorite classes was Paleo-pathology. We studied the human skeleton and the different effects disease and trauma could produce on bones, and one slide I will never forget was of a skull from Peru. The fellow had been hit in the left eyebrow by a sling stone, and there was one crack that went over the top of his skull to halfway down the back, and two more through his eye socket that split his maxilary bone into two pieces. Nasty..._

**VIII: Black Sheep**

One urtal screaming in the dead of night is bad enough. Multiply that by a couple dozen and I bet Freddy Kruger would probably shit his drawers at the sound. Every last one of us crouched down and brought our weapons up. Ronon started backing up towards me, his eyes scanning the jungle and searching for any movement to aim at.

"Oh, dear God," I heard Rodney breathe over the radio. "What is that _noise_?"

I had just opened my mouth to answer when the first arrow came sailing out of the jungle. Actually, no – it was way too long to be an arrow but too slender to be a spear. It arced high and came down between me and Lorne. "Fall back," I said as a several more followed. Their trajectory was easy to watch and avoid – they were obviously lofting them to get them clear of any blocking branches. I glanced back to see how far we were from the gate when something whistled past my ear. I snapped my head back around just in time to see a pale form step briefly from behind a tree trunk, arm spinning in a blur by its side before it snapped forward. Something impacted _hard_ on my tac vest just over my stomach and knocked me back a step. A couple more figures darted out of the shadows, their arms spinning.

"They're attacking us with … slings?" Ronon said. The he suddenly jerked to the side and said something in Setadan that didn't need any translation. He held a hand briefly to the side of his neck, and when he pulled it away I saw blood. He growled and fired at a form before it ducked behind a tree. Charred splinters flew from the side of the trunk.

I glanced up at the wall quickly as a couple other Marines fired quick bursts into the jungle. Liang was with Pawlowski – the kid was a decent sniper. "Liang, you see anything so much as twitch, take the shot."

"Yes, sir." A second later I could hear the occasional single shot ring out.

"The rest of you, back. Now!" As I backed up my heel came down on something hard and my ankle threatened to fold as it shifted. A quick glance revealed it was Shadow's belt. Without a thought I scooped it up and draped it over my shoulder. I could hear a couple other Marines shout in pain as sling stones grazed or connected with unprotected arms and legs, and we were almost to the gate when I saw Lorne's head suddenly snap back. He went down in a boneless heap and I fired a long burst into the jungle. "Ronon!" I shouted, then something clipped my left arm. Blood started flowing instantly.

"I got him," Ronon said and just grabbed Lorne by the front of his vest and dragged him backwards one handed while firing back into the jungle.

I, along with Ferguson and Morales, laid down a cover fire to give Ronon time to get Lorne through the gate before the rest of us followed him. The heavy doors closed and we all heard a couple solid hits against the wood. I glanced up in time to see Liang suddenly jerk. He damn near went backwards off the narrow catwalk but Pawlowski managed to catch him in time and lower him onto the ledge. That action saved him from a head shot that only managed to take his cap off and not split his skull.

I knelt next to Lorne and checked his wound – it was a long gash that started just above his right temple and disappeared into his hair. It was just a glancing blow, but he was out cold and bleeding like a mother. Ronon already had a field dressing out and pressed it down hard to staunch the bleeding. Lorne made a noise and I took that as a good sign.

I glanced around and took stock. Every single one of us was bleeding from at least one hit from a sling stone, and Lorne seemed to be the worst. Liang was already back on his knees and I could see his right shoulder was dark with blood. He and Pawlowski were keeping their heads down but would pop up briefly to check over the wall.

Then I saw Shadow. He must have collapsed shortly after clearing the gate, and he was still lying on the ground, still gasping for breath. The hunter he had carried in was lying on the ground in front of him and unconscious. The man was alive, but had a nasty compound fracture of his lower right leg and numerous gashes. Beyond him I could see the other wounded hunter and his bird on the ground, too, and surrounded by several villagers. Someone had thrown a cloth over the Jubjub's head and the thing was only mildly squirming. I had to look away when two other men just simply pulled the hunter's leg _off_ the broken shaft.

"Sheppard, what in the _hell_ is happening?" Rodney's voice bellowed in my ear.

I realized it wasn't the first time he'd asked that question in the last few minutes – I had just tuned him out when the shit hit the fan. "We were attacked, Rodney, what dya think happened?" I snarled back. "Now shut up and tell me how many of those damn things are out there."

There was a pause, and I could just imagine Rodney's eyes getting huge and his mouth dipping down in a crooked grimace as he got ready to snark back. Then Zelenka cut in. "I see twenty-nine just inside jungle perimeter, and possibly eighteen more further back and closing in fast."

_Shit_. "Are they clustered, or spreading out?"

"Closer ones starting to spread out."

I glanced around and saw the Jumper about forty yards away. I shot to my feet and started running towards it. "Rodney, can you patch the scanners into the HUD in the Jumper?"

"As soon as you fire it up, I can," he replied succinctly.

"Good." Lorne had left the hatch down and I was powering up systems before I even sat down in the pilot's chair. I called up targeting, saw all the little blips that were the urtal's ten-times removed fugly cousins, popped the Jumper's pods, and launched a couple drones over the wall. Yeah, I was going to have to fill out a ton of paperwork for using the heavy ordinance once I got back to Atlantis, but you know what? Fuck it. It was worth it just to stop that damn _screaming_.

"Um, wasn't that a bit of an, oh, overkill, colonel?" Rodney said in the blessed silence that followed the explosions.

"Naw," I drawled. I doubt there were more than a dozen of the mangy bastards left, and they were scattering deeper into the jungle. I only watched a minute more before I powered the Jumper back down and jogged back over to the gate. On the way I found Shadow's belt again – I must have dropped it on the mad dash to the Jumper. I just scooped it up again. Shadow was just getting to his feet as I got there, and he grabbed my arm for support when I stopped next to him. I caught his upper arm in my free hand and found the fur wet. Now that I was closer I could see several gashes on his shoulders and sides that had been hidden in his thick black fur. That had me both concerned and pissed.

"We need to get the wounded to the Temple," he said between pants. He waved me back and when I let go of his arm, my hand was red.

"Yeah, we do," I said. "Carson, we have incoming."

"How many and how bad," he replied immediately.

"Three serious – one a head wound, another a compound leg fracture, and the third an arrow wound."

"Can they be moved?"

I repeated the question to Shadow and he nodded. "Tell him we'll get them stabilized here, then transport them to Atlantis if need be."

I nodded and relayed the message.

The next few minutes were absolutely amazing. The villagers pitched in and in just a very short time had three makeshift stretchers lashed together to transport Lorne and the two hunters to the Temple. Shadow left orders for lookouts atop the wall, and I sent those Marines who just had minor injuries to join them. We made for an interesting little ragged parade to the Temple, and en route I handed Shadow his belt. He looked at it for a moment, and when he took it he chuffed. "Not much good without the rest," he said, his voice tired but amused, and flopped it over his shoulder. He hissed faintly when it connected with four particularly nasty gashes across his shoulder blade. They weren't bleeding, but the fur around them was thick with clotted blood. He saw me frowning and chuffed again. "The others first."

Okay, _now_ I understood why Carson found me so God damned _infuriating_ ….

Carson was waiting for us when the lift doors opened. He took one look at the hunter with the broken leg and sent me back to the 'gate to request a full medical team. When I returned a very short time later, I brought the Jumper down right by the Temple steps.

Teyla, Ronon, and I stayed out in the hall while Shadow, Carson, and his people worked. Ronon had a bandage on his neck and another around his left forearm. I slapped a field dressing on my arm while I waited on top of the pyramid - the sling stone took quite a chunk out, but it didn't burn nearly as bad as a bullet graze and it could wait. Liang and Carpenter were currently sitting on the floor in the hall, big goofy smiles on their faces. Each took a sling stone – Liang in the shoulder and Carpenter in the thigh – and they were going to have to have them surgically removed. Carson packed their wounds and Shadow apparently slipped them some of the good stuff while they awaited transport back to Atlantis.

"How's the Major?" I asked Teyla as I rubbed my neck.

"He has a hairline skull fracture and a subdural hematoma," she replied. Her eyebrows were furrowed slightly as she glanced towards the med bay door. "Dr. Beckett has scanned him and there isn't any brain swelling, but he's concerned that the major hasn't regained consciousness yet."

"Crap," I muttered. "And Shadow?" I had a feeling I knew the answer to that one.

"He helped with Poc, the hunter with the arrow wound, and got the others pain medication, but that was about all he could do. _And_ he hasn't allowed anyone near him yet." Teyla sounded very … irritated. "Kintu has tried to get him to cooperate, but he is being stubborn." She gave me the faintest of knowing little smirks, and I could just hear her unvoiced _remind you of anyone?_

Yeah, I had to snort as I shook my head and grimaced a bit sheepishly. I nodded to Ronon. "C'mon, let's run interference." He followed me into one of the Temple's larger medical facilities and the first thing I saw was Lorne. He was strapped into a basket stretcher, ready for transport, his head wrapped in a heavy layer of bandages, and looked too still to be merely asleep. The second was Poc, the hunter with the perfed leg. He was lying on a table, his leg wrapped and elevated, and judging by the grin on his face he'd sampled the good stuff, too. Kintu was sitting up on the table with him, his arm splinted and in a sling, and had the most disgusted frown I'd ever seen on him. He gave me a nod and a grunt. Carson had been a busy boy during my short jaunt to the 'gate and back, and currently he and his team were busy getting the other hunter stabilized and ready for transport. They didn't even notice us come in.

But Shadow did. He was still in his half form and was slumped against the back wall, his butt setting on his heels and his arms just lying limply in his lap. He turned his head toward me and I could see it slightly bobbing with every rapid breath, and as I got closer I could see his eyes were slightly dilated and caught a whiff of birthday cake. So, he'd sampled some of the good stuff, too. I stopped right in front of him and frowned down at him. His ears flattened and his eyes narrowed.

"It's nice to know the _attitude _copied over," I drawled. "And here Carson thought you were a good patient."

Carson heard me and glanced our way. "Finally! Colonel, _please_ slap some sense into the lad."

"I am fine," Shadow growled. He didn't sound fine, and he sure as hell didn't look fine.

Carson rolled his eyes. He gave his team a few quiet orders then backed away and snapped his stained gloves off. He pulled a fresh pair from the field kit and as he stomped our way he pulled them on. "All right – your people have been taken care of, so as of this second that excuse is now officially crap. Your turn." He frowned and gave Shadow a little wave to move away from the wall. When he didn't, Carson sighed. "Don't make me have these two gentlemen drag you to a table." After a really sad attempt at a chuff Shadow pushed away from the wall and tried to stand but couldn't. Ronon and I wound up each taking an elbow and hauled him to his feet, and I couldn't help noticing the stiff fur under my hand or the large dark imprint he left behind. Carson led us over to the last empty exam table in the large room.

We let go of Shadow next to the table and he leaned back against the edge for support. Carson sighed impatiently. "Contrary to what Rodney likes to tell everyone one at every possible opportunity, I am not a vet." His voice softened considerably. "I'm going tae have to ask you change, lad. Sorry."

Shadow looked at him, blinked a few times, then nodded faintly. He closed his eyes and his forehead and nose wrinkled in concentration. The change was slower than in the Jumper the day before, but it still only took a few seconds. The moment he was human, however, his legs gave out. Carson and I barely caught him under the arms and just kept his knees from cracking down hard on the floor.

"Bloidy hell," Carson muttered and it wasn't too far from the truth. The kid had a dozen wounds, the worst being the four across his right shoulder blade, one long one across his ribs on his left side, and another nasty one on his upper right arm, and there was very little skin from his neck to his knees that wasn't stained red. The minor cuts were already healed to the point of new red scars, but the deeper ones were still raw. The gash on his arm was the worst, and it started bleeding again. Shadow's eyes were fluttering and he was growling faintly. "Get his feet," Carson said to me and we hoisted him up onto the table.

Once he was prone it only took a moment for Shadow's eyes to open again. He let out a deep, shuddering breath. "That … hurt," he said in a surprisingly normal tone.

"Bloidy hell, lad," Carson repeated. "You're worse than him."

I didn't argue.

Carson started to examine the gash across his arm, which had already stopped bleeding in the first minute after the change. Each gentle touch brought a quiet snarl. "This is already closing," Carson said in a half whisper.

"I heal fast when I need to," Shadow replied with a bit of a smirk.

"Don't you be getting cheeky with me, son," Carson warned. He quickly returned to his team, said a few soft words, then came back with a squeeze bottle and some gauze pads and proceeded to clean the wound. "So, this healin' ability – do, did … do all the Guardians possess it?" Once that was clean, he concentrated on the one on his ribs. It already had the appearance of a cut several days old. Carson snorted in surprise.

Shadow closed his eyes and nodded. "I can heal my own injuries, but others …. It will be years yet before I am proficient at that skill."

"And Xili?" Carson asked skeptically.

"Luck." Shadow's voice was starting to wind down.

"How do you do it?" I couldn't help but asking.

"Healing is nothing but a change," he replied sleepily, then smirked again. "And I'm quite good at that."

"I warned you about that cheeky stuff," Carson growled. I had a feeling the cheekiness was more a result of the good stuff as opposed to true attitude at this point. Made me wonder just how much Shadow took. "Roll on to your side – let me check your back." While he cleaned those gashes Shadow actually let out a soft snore then woke with a faint full body jerk. Carson gently rolled him onto his back once he was finished. "We need to get you cleaned up, son."

"Later," Shadow murmured. "I need sleep."

Carson sighed and looked at me, and I fought the urge to say _what?_ "Let's find him a blanket." We wound up using one of the foil things in the emergency field kit and just left him there while we ferried wounded to the Jumper. Carson was going to allow Kintu and Poc to stay – their injuries looked worse than they actually were, and Carson was pretty sure all Poc needed over the next few days were some antibiotics to keep any infection at bay. He would be back later to put a proper cast on Kintu's arm; right now his concern was for Lorne and the hunter with the compound fracture.

Not quite an hour later Ronon and I were climbing the steps of the Temple and it was clouding up. I brought back another team of Marines and set them up with the others. The sentries on the wall hadn't reported any new movement from the jungle, and a quick check in with Zelenka proved the whatever-they-were were keeping their distance, but they were still out there.

When we exited on the med level there was quite the little crowd in the hall. Rodney, Katie and her two people, and Teyla were all sitting on the floor along with Kintu and a handful of villagers. Katie and the tiny Japanese woman still looked a little freaked from the morning's events, and everyone was talking quietly. Rodney was chewing away on a Powerbar – if it had been a tinu I would have smacked him – and Kintu was laying with his head in the lap of a woman who was stroking his forehead and murmuring quietly to him. I got the impression the villagers were all his and Poc's immediate family. I peeked into the room just long enough to see that Shadow and Poc were asleep, then I found an open spot and sat down. Ronon just leaned against the wall and rubbed at the bandage on his neck.

I was feeling tired after the initial adrenaline rush of the morning, but as long as those things were still out there the day was a long ways from being over. I pulled a Powerbar out of my own vest. "How are you guys doing?" I asked Katie and the two botanists with her as I tore open my snack.

"Okay," Katie replied. "We've been trying to figure out what those things were."

"Radek and I are searching the data base," Rodney said around a mouthful. "We haven't found anything yet."

"The villagers haven't seen anything like them," Teyla replied.

I grunted and looked at Rodney. "You haven't found _anything_?"

Rodney waved impatiently. "The data base is huge, and typing in 'fugly mutant cat demon thing' doesn't bring up a whole hell of a lot. My blood sugar was low so I came up to take a break." Then he shrugged. "And see how Sha … everyone is doing. I heard Major Lorne got hit pretty hard. Any word?"

"Carson said he'd let us know if there were any changes," I said. "And he'll call when the little guy with the broken leg is out of surgery."

We were suddenly distracted by a heavy thump from the med bay followed by a low, rumbling growl. I was on my feet in an instant and got to the door in time to see Shadow on the floor and fighting his way free of the space blanket. He blinked at the silvery material then shoved it aside and started to get to his feet.

"Hey hey hey! Where do you think you're going?" I said, but not so loud as to wake up the other occupant of the room.

Shadow was on his feet now and swaying ever so faintly. The blood that covered him earlier was all dried to a uniform brown, and when he scratched his right arm what looked like a scab flaked away to reveal dark pink scar tissue. He blinked at me a few times when I stopped right in front of him and blocked his way, then he just grabbed me by the arms, picked me up and set me aside like I didn't weigh any more than Kintu and stomped for the door. Ronon was standing there. The big guy crossed his arms and planted his feet and Shadow came to a halt. "Please move," Shadow said, voice low and almost more growl than spoken word. Ronon just cocked his head back and set his mouth in a half smirk.

"Somebody wakes up cranky," I muttered as I rubbed the graze on my arm – it was singing now. "You really need to rest …." I stopped when I heard the low rumbling growl, then Shadow moved so fast I wasn't sure I saw it. I think he shoved Ronon – all I know is that Ronon just _flew_ backwards into the hall and bounced off the opposite wall. He was out the door to several startled exclamations a second later, and I was hot on his heels. I glanced briefly to my right as I entered the hall and saw more open mouths than an aquarium full of gold fish. Ronon was sitting up and shaking his head, dreds whipping with the motion. Yup, he had his bell rung.

I caught up to him a dozen feet from the lift and grabbed his arm. "Hey," I said and started to turn him around. "What do you …." Next thing I know I'm looking up at the ceiling and having a flashback to my encounter with the uber-Wraith back on wherever the hell that was, and what I thought were alien fireflies at first were just little sparklies in my vision.

Teyla suddenly appeared in my line of sight, her forehead creased in worry. "Colonel, are you all right?" she asked.

"Guh-wha huh?" I said and blinked. I lifted my head and looked between my splayed feet to see I was back where I started. Jeez, did I slide all that way?

"Well, he doesn't sound like he has any brain damage beyond the normal amount, at least," Rodney snarked. "He's fine."

Then hands were helping me up into a sitting position and I noticed the center of my chest was really sore. I pressed a hand there and grimaced. "Where'd he go?" I croaked out. "'Cuz I'm gonna kill him." I saw Ronon out of the corner of my eye. Looks like I wasn't the only one who wanted to kill him.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Rodney said. "I mean, how hard is it going to be to track a naked, mutant clone covered in, ah, was that blood?" he finished in a rush. "Because it looked an awful lot like dried blood. And a lot of it."

"Yeah, it was," I said. "Help me up, here." Teyla and Rodney each got under an arm and I was on my feet and only mildly swaying. I glanced at the rest of the folks in the hall and saw both concern and shock registering there. Even Kintu was awake and sitting up, his own eyes wide. I was about to call out to the Marines on guard duty and ask if the kid went that way when Zelenka solved our mystery.

"Uh, Rodney? You need to get down here. Quickly."

I tapped my ear. "We're on our way." I glanced at Katie. "You folks stay here. We'll handle this." I got a very vigorous nod in reply. As me and my team barreled down the hall I saw Ronon check his gun. "That better be set on stun," I said through the side of my mouth. Ronon grunted and changed the setting.

We fanned out into control a minute later and all of us came to a surprised stop. The lighting was maybe at fifty per cent, and Zelenka was standing behind a console, his mouth open. Shadow was standing in the center of the room on a lighted section of floor, his shoulders slightly hunched and his hands flexing open and closed and intent as if stalking prey and not information. His face was set in a snarl as he slowly turned, his eyes scanning one holographic HUD after another. The Ancient text was scrolling across them at an alarming pace, and every once in awhile he'd lift a hand and dismiss one screen only to call up another.

"Holy crap," Rodney muttered. He glanced at Zelenka. "Did you know this could …." He twitched and shrugged towards the displays.

Zelenka drew his chin back and shook his head, his fine hair threatening to flip into his face with the motion. "No. He just barreled in and …." He went _pfft_ and made a gesture like he was trying to get something to rise from the ground. Then he smoothed his hair back since he couldn't seem to think of anything else to do with his hands. "Is that … blood?" he asked. "And where are his clothes? Not that he wears much to begin with, but this is … very disturbing. Disturbing that requires hours of psychotherapy disturbing. Disturbing that creates ….."

I glowered at Zelenka briefly and he shut up. I stepped forward through a layer of green holographic data. "What the hell are you doing?" I said through my teeth.

"I had a … memory," Shadow replied in the same tone. As he turned my way briefly his dilated eyes reflected green light. Suddenly he froze. "There," he growled. All but one display winked out, and the new data expanded to surround him completely.

Rodney stepped forward, his own mouth open in a crooked grimace of awe. "That looks encrypted," he muttered as he stepped through the wall of Ancient text. He reached behind him and with practiced ease pulled his computer from his back in a rip of Velcro. He pulled the leads from a pocket in his tac vest. "I should have this in no time."

Shadow leaned his head back, eyes closed and mouth open. The images grew too bright to look at and we all had to turn away for a moment. Then the data was back, only now it was in a recognizable format.

I'd spent enough time in the infirmary to recognize medical diagrams and charts when I see them.

Rodney glowered at Shadow, his computer leads still in his hands. "Show off," he said.

We all stepped into the center of the room, and when the first simple line image of a half-cat, half-urtal _thing_ popped up I felt like growling myself, just like Shadow was currently doing. "What the hell are those?"

"The First Ones," Shadow replied. "The first Guardian mentioned them but once, how they were a failed experiment and were destroyed. The name came to me while I was sleeping."

_With all the data in his head from the download, no wonder it took awhile for it to surface_, I thought. _And here I thought _my_ subconscious was messed up_. Made me glad I just had nightmares.

"Why in the hell couldn't the Ancients just leave things well enough alone?" Rodney muttered as he read data. "Instead they had to go and fuck with the natural order of things. Couldn't just settle with kick-ass technology and stick with the 'gates. No, instead they had to go and play Frankenstein." His hand suddenly fluttered up. "Wait, wait – go back." Rodney read for a moment then made a strangled noise. "Son of a bitch," he muttered.

Zelenka was peering at the same bit of data, and let out a string of what I knew just had to be cuss words.

"What?" I asked worriedly.

"The Ancients tried for years to perfect a hybrid," Shadow said, his voice incredibly soft and calm. That made me nervous. "They used the urtal as the stock race, but the results were too unpredictable in nature, too … volatile."

"Why do people go and use the meanest thing around when they try something like this? Huh?" Rodney grumbled to himself. "Why couldn't they have used, say, sheep? Or cows? What, did a were-cow with cud chewing abilities not appeal to them? They think going straight to a mutant killer would be easier in the long run?" He let out a disgusted sigh as he continued reading. "Oh, gee – now this makes a whole hell of a lot of sense. Instead of destroying the base experiment and starting over, they just dumped them and let them fend for themselves after giving them the barest information needed for survival," Rodney continued. "They decided to use them for a different experiment altogether. Jesus – it's, it's, it's like they turned them into their own little game of Civilization, with a bit of 'Island of Dr. Moreau' and 'Lord of the Flies' mixed in for color."

Okay, now I was _really_ getting pissed at the Ancients. "Where were they dropped?"

Shadow called up a map of the continent. A section quite a ways to the north lit up. "Here. The area is an isolated plateau with a cloud forest ecology."

The display switched to a topographical one and I recognized the mountain range to its south from my flyover the other day. Oh, hell …. "I found a fairly recent volcano in the area. Here. This entire section of shield wall was gone."

"That would explain why they moved from their territory," Teyla said. "And if the population has been there for the last ten thousand years …."

"Then they've all probably become an inbred batch of insane, tool wielding mega-predators with thumbs," Rodney said, his shoulders slumping in utter disgust. "Great. Just great."

"Yup, leave it to you, McKay, to put such a cheerful spin on things," I drawled. "So, how many of these things did the Ancients create?" I asked, my gut cold and my aches and pains forgotten for the moment.

"Just over three hundred," Shadow replied. His breath was coming fast again, the anger he was just barely keeping in check causing little ripples of fur to rise from his forehead all the way down to his feet. Even I knew with my limited knowledge of genetics that that number wasn't nearly large enough to create a stable population for that long of a time period. "And now the, the remnants are hunting down and killing _my_ people," he snarled. His eyes met mine, and I noticed a thin trickle of blood was running from one of his nostrils. "Did your weapon kill them all?"

"No, there are some left."

"Then we must hunt them down and destroy them. All of them." Shadow flicked his chin up and the holographic displays disappeared, much to Rodney and Zelenka's dismay.

"I'm good with that," Ronon rumbled.

The lights came up to full power. "Now!" Shadow growled and started for the door. He went about three steps before his hands went to his head and he let out a short strangled cry of pain. He veered into a console and I barely caught him as he went down.

"Whoa, hey, slow down," I said as I lowered him to the floor. Then I said, "Shit!" as he started to seize.

oOo

I was sitting in the Jumper just outside of the Temple, the HUD showing an Ancient equivalent of an EEG, which in turn was currently being broadcast to Atlantis through the 'gate.

"I cannot see anything wrong," Dr. Vandenheiden, one of our neurologists, said. The display changed. "Physiology, good. No deviation in brain wave activity – everything is well within the norm. He is fine and healthy and in no immediate danger."

"Then why did he have the seizure?" I asked.

"There are several things that could have triggered it – exhaustion, reaction to medication, even a brief drop in the oxygen supply to the brain. It is my opinion that this may have just been an isolated event." The display switched again. "How are you feeling right now, young man?" she asked.

"I have a headache, and am very hungry," Shadow answered.

"That could have done it, too," she said. "Take it easy, get something to eat."

"Thanks, doc," I said.

"You are welcome, Colonel." She signed off.

Elizabeth came on the line. "I just heard from Carson – Tlaxul is in recovery and doing fine. He had to put a plate and several pins in his leg and expects a full recovery."

"That is good," Shadow replied, and sounded very relieved.

"Did you get the data burst?" Rodney cut in.

"Yes, we've just finished decompressing the file." We all heard Chuck let out a startled cuss word in the background, and a second later Elizabeth said, "Oh, dear God. How many of those … things are there?"

"There were over forty," I replied. "Now, not so many."

"Keep me appraised of any new developments," Elizabeth said. "And if you need any more resources."

"Will do. Rodney, got anything to add?"

"I'd request a nuke, but you already got things covered in the overkill department today."

"I meant something _useful_," I added.

"I would like some food," came Shadow's voice faintly from the background.

I heard Elizabeth snort. I sighed. "We'll check in at twenty-two hundred. Sheppard out." I powered the Jumper down right away and headed back into the Temple. In a few hours I was going to start rotating Marines off the wall so they could get dinner, too. The First Ones were staying in the deeper jungle for now, and that suited me just fine. I got back downstairs just in time to see Shadow leaving the med bay. He had the space blanket wrapped around him, thank God, and a worried entourage following in his wake. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"To my quarters to bathe and eat," he growled back. He glanced behind him at Teyla and Kintu. "I will be fine."

Teyla flashed me a frown and a raised eyebrow.

"And I have asked my people to set up a meal on the third level; you are all welcome to retire there." He continued on down the hall, head down. I nodded to Teyla and fell into step next to Shadow. It wasn't until we were in the lift again before he spoke. "I don't need a keeper."

"Just think of me as a concerned bystander," I drawled.

Shadow studied me out of the corner of his eye, then shook his head and chuffed. When we exited the lift this concerned bystander followed him to his quarters and camped in the hallway.


	9. IX: Nasty Problem, Simple Solution

_A/N: I wrote this chapter on the anniversary of a dear friend's death, so, um, it got a little dark ..._

**IX: Nasty Problem, Simple Solution**

Rodney wisely stayed away from the tinu again, but he made a good dent in the pile of cold Jubjub. Turned out Shadow used the cold storage unit as a refrigerator, too, and currently had quite a stockpile. And he had a lot of raw Jubjub stored down there as well, and when one of the women brought him a huge chunk I was very happy Rodney didn't see – a puking Rodney would not be a good thing right now. Shadow wisely took it to his room to eat, and I wondered if his choice of food had something to do with the healing process. Either that or his inner cat was asserting itself more than usual right now. Either way, I was happy not to see him gnawing away on the thing.

Zelenka had patched the scanners into his computer so he could keep an eye on things while he ate. He was almost done with his analysis of the shield system and planned on working through the night to finish. Katie and her two scientists were going to finish up after dinner and I was going to ferry them back to Atlantis as soon as they were done. I got my boys on the wall fed before the rain started back up again for the night, and because of that full dark came early. I'm glad I made the second team I brought over bring night vision goggles. We were going to need them if anything happened.

Shadow was pretty quiet when he joined us after his meal. And we were all startled into momentary silence at the sight of new red scars from his encounter earlier in the day. He didn't have his belt over the simple loin cloth he was wearing and it just didn't look right. He sat down next to me and leaned back against the fountain. "I've been thinking – we need to post a few more sentries near the unfinished section of the wall. The First Ones would have no problem climbing the wooden wall, and the spikes near the top will more than likely not deter them the way they do an Ixlatecutl."

"Good idea," I said, and it was eerie because not even ten minutes ago the same thought crossed my mind. I relayed the orders. "Do you think they'll try something tonight?" I wondered out loud.

He shrugged. "They attacked us in the jungle today with such … hatred that I really do not want to take chances."

"Sensors are working perfectly," Rodney said. "And there is the shield."

"Yes, there is," Shadow said. "But that is only a temporary solution."

I don't know what made me turn my head toward him and study his face. Might have been the tone he used, or the maybe my subconscious was picking up on something. I saw his lips were drawn in and he had that still, intent air about him that made me uncomfortable. "You still want to kill them off."

"Yes." He answered calmly and without hesitation.

Teyla lifted her head and regarded Shadow. "Are you certain that is the only solution?" She asked the question calmly, too, but I could see she was not pleased with the idea.

"Yes," Shadow said again. "The Ancients shirked their responsibility – something I have learned they were very good at doing. And if I am to fix their mistake, I will do it correctly and with finality."

I heard Zelenka snort and saw Rodney jut his jaw out. Ronon was even smirking and nodding in approval.

Teyla started to open her mouth but Shadow raised a hand and cut her off. "When I engaged them in the jungle, I caught enough of their scent to know they are not a healthy race. _I_ am certain that this solution will be merciful for them. They are not … right."

Teyla briefly lowered her eyes and nodded. "I understand, but it is such a _harsh_ solution for a people who had no choice in their existence."

A ripple of fur rose along Shadow's arms and he got utterly still.

"I did not mean to offend," Teyla said and ducked her head in a faint bow of apology.

"You did not," Shadow said softly. The corner of his mouth rose in an ironic smirk, but his eyes remained fixed. Intense. "But of all the people here right now, I think I am the most qualified to make such a decision."

oOo

At twenty-two hundred I checked in and reported everything was just hunky dory. I used more professional terms, of course, but that pretty much summed it up. The extra Atlantis personnel were back home, Zelenka was finishing up his analysis several hours sooner than he expected, and the Marines on guard duty were able to rotate out for a quick snooze. Shadow opened up a long forgotten observation room at the very top of the tower, and Rodney was currently entrenched up there with his computer playing lookout and bouncing from a tinu he thought he'd snuck past me. It was a very good thing there were nearly a hundred vertical feet separating my boot from his ass right now.

It was now an hour after check-in and I was in the Jumper and using it as my makeshift command center. The only light came from the HUD and the scanners were showing the First Ones were less than a klick from the jungle perimeter. They had been slowly creeping in since sunset but were still keeping their distance. I was nervously watching a solitary blip that was less than twenty feet from the largest cluster of ten and slowly moving in. My heart damn near stopped when it quit moving practically on top of the others, and I kept up a litany of quiet cussing that consisted mainly of _stupid fucking God damned sonuvabitch_ until it started moving away again. Shadow insisted he was only going to do some scouting – he wanted to take advantage of the steady rain that had yet to quit falling since sunset – but during the course of the past hour several solitary blips had disappeared from the scanners.

It was a good thing there was a klick between my boot and his ass right now, too.

It took nearly twenty long minutes for Shadow to slowly creep away from that cluster of First Ones, and once he had some distance his speed increased. By the time he hit the jungle perimeter he was flying.

I relayed a warning to Ronon and Teyla at the gate so they didn't shoot his furry ass.

"Man, he's really pressing his luck, isn't he?" Rodney said over the radio. "Kinda remind you of someone we know?"

"Say, have you figured out how to make all the walls and floor of that room go transparent yet? I can come up and help in case you haven't." That was one of the first things Rodney found out when he called up the schematics of that room, and he made the big mistake of telling me about it.

"Asshole. Besides, it's dark out. Wouldn't bother me anyway because, let's see – it's _pitch black_ out right now and I couldn't see a damn thing."

I could just see his little _so there_ head waggle.

"Hey, Radek – I've been looking over the power grid and I think we can boost the scanner sensitivity as well as the shield strength if we reroute some power from the ZedPM in the clone room," Rodney said.

"No. No. Already considered that," Zelenka replied from Control. "System is fairly contained – only outlet large enough to possibly handle that amount of power is through cold storage retrieval system, and the strain would be too severe in short time. Could cause cryo-system crash."

"Not if we raise the temperature temporarily – not enough to let things thaw, mind you, but at least enough to take some of the strain of the cooling units and allow for a smoother rate of energy transfer between the main units and back-up."

"Hmm," Zelenka said. "Maybe. Maybe. Give me moment." We could hear the Czech humming under his breath as he worked. A couple times Rodney piped in with something actually useful, and in less than ten minutes they were ready to try. Zelenka initiated the transfer. "Good. Good. Everything holding – transfer rate steady and well below red."

"Reconfiguring scanners now," Rodney said.

The HUD grew sharper and actually started showing topographical data. Then it went dark. "What the hell just happened?" I said as I tried to mentally coax the thing back to life.

"Um," Rodney replied.

"Scanner system crashed," Zelenka reported. "Shutting down transfer now!" Then he proceeded to cuss for the next, oh, fifteen seconds. "Power held fine – scanner, _pfft_. Will take me some time to get back online."

"Rodney …." I growled.

"Hey! It worked. It isn't my fault the scanners are old and couldn't take it! And hell, who knows when they were serviced last."

I sighed. "Get down there and help Radek."

"I can handle it," Zelenka replied instantly. No doubt those four words had Rodney moving faster than any threat from me. "In meantime, the Jumper's scanners should work for short distance."

"Thanks, Radek," I said and called them up. Short distance was right – with the village and Temple and wall, I could only get a decent reading to the edge of the jungle. At least there was a good thirty yards of low foliage in the clearing surrounding the village. My boys would be able to see anything coming and take it out before it got here.

I caught the smell of wet earth in the Jumper and turned my head to find Shadow standing in the back. The kid was naked again, covered from head to foot in mud, and I could see the twin blue-green reflections of his pupils amid all that brown. I was never, _ever_, going to get used to that eye thing. "What has happened?" he asked, the concern in his voice giving it a low growl.

"Temporary glitch," I said. "And what in the hell were you doing out there besides trying to get your fool self killed?"

Shadow showed a flash of white fang, and it really showed up against the mud. "My scent was masked, and they did not see me."

I can imagine he would be hard to see at night while in that panther form, but still …. "And those ones you took out? I thought you were supposed to be _scouting_."

"They did not know I was there until I ripped their throats out. They died in silence."

Okay, I admit it - _that_ freaked me out a little. I ran a hand across my mouth and forced myself to ask, calmly, "What did you find?"

Shadow cocked his head faintly, then lowered his eyes. "There are twenty-one left, nine of them severely injured. And I am quite certain they are getting ready for an attack."

oOo

It was shortly after oh-one-hundred and the rain was coming down harder than before. I was standing on the narrow catwalk on the wooden palisade along with Shadow, Ronon, Ferguson, Pawlowski, and a half a dozen hunters. We had ample cover at the moment as we peered through the gap between the sharpened ends of the logs at a lone First One standing in the clearing. It had been standing there for the last ten minutes, just staring at the wall, and it was wearing a leather mantle that vaguely resembled a human run over by a steamroller. Three tiny human skulls hung from its belt. "I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess it's the leader," I drawled sarcastically as I studied it through my night vision goggles.

Shadow chuffed. He was in his half form and I could see his claws were buried halfway into the wood of the palisade.

I turned my back to the wall and glanced toward the center of the village and the Temple. "You two have the scanners up yet?" I asked through my teeth.

"Almost," Rodney replied frantically.

"You said that a half an hour ago."

"This time we are truly …." Radek trailed off. "There!"

"Oh, shit," Rodney said.

"Sir?" Morales said from the Jumper. I put him there because he had the ATA gene _and_ the ability to speak as fast as Rodney if it came down to him relaying play by play of enemy movement to us. "Our friends brought reinforcements."

"How many?" I asked and glanced towards Shadow. The kid was looking at me and I was pretty damn sure he heard the transmission because his ears were both swiveled toward me and he was snarling.

"There are twenty-five in the jungle at your position, twelve at the front gate, and fourteen more coming up to the wall behind the Temple."

"Harper, confirm!" The kid and two of Shadow's people were on sentry duty on the rear section of wall. "Harper!" The radio remained silent. "Shit."

That was when the leader let out one of those piercing, scrotum crawling _screams_, and dozens more echoed from the jungle. Shadow stood briefly and returned it with a ear-drum rattling roar of his own. The screams faltered momentarily, then Shadow had to duck as a sling stone knocked splinters from the palisade.

"Oh, God, I hate that sound," I heard Rodney mutter in my ear.

"Enemy is moving," Morales informed us.

"Fire at will." I glanced at Shadow. "Teyla – meet me and Shadow at the back wall. We may have a breach."

"Understood," Teyla replied.

Shadow shook his head. "Send my hunters." I gave him a questioning look – they were all armed with blow guns, and even though he assured me the poison their darts were dipped in could take down a Jubjub in under three seconds I was still dubious. I mean, jeez – blow guns? "They know the garden, and this is what they excel at – stalking prey through dense foliage," he said.

"Okay," I finally said and relayed the order to Teyla before she got too far. I waited a moment for a reply. "They're on their way."

Shadow nodded and just jumped from the catwalk. He landed crouched on all fours thirty feet below and I wanted to shout _showoff_. I had to resort to the simple ladder – just a pole, really, with cross pieces tied onto it – and jumped when I was three-quarters of the way down. My landing wasn't nearly as graceful as Shadow's, but it worked. Gunfire erupted from above us and up near the gate as we broke into a jog. We went through the edge of the empty village – Shadow evacuated everyone to the Temple as a precaution and they were spread out between the atrium and two floors of the tower – and skirted the flagstone lined 'courtyard'. I hadn't been behind the Temple so the sight of an extensive cultivated garden surprised me. It was a set up that reminded me of the vineyards in Napa Valley, and unfortunately would provide a lot of cover. I pulled my life signs detector from my vest and scanned the reading. Looked like there were already six in the garden, and in the next second another dropped down from the wall. "Morales, you be Teyla's eyes," I said softly. "Channel two. We'll keep anything from passing on the left."

"Yes, sir," he replied.

I showed Shadow the scanner and he nodded. We faded into the row at the edge of the field. "Damn, I wish we had some light – full moon, floods, anything," I whispered to Shadow as I watched blips move along the rows. Those goggles just didn't cut it, and I could see two more blips show up. Then from the other side of the Temple came eleven blips that quickly fanned out in a line from the flagstones to the wall and started creeping slowly forward.

"I think I may have something," Shadow whispered. I glanced his way and saw he had his head cocked and that odd, faraway look on his face.

"Hold off for a moment – I don't want my people on the wall backlit."

Shadow nodded.

"Gate is secure," one of the Marines up front reported. "Targets are eliminated. Sending Stackhouse and Johnson to Ronon's position."

"Copy that," I said. "Ronon, how's it looking?"

"We took out thirteen in the first wave – the rest are staying back, under cover." I heard him fire a couple times. "They're waiting for something."

_Yeah, probably the ones on this side to take you out_, I thought. I glanced at the scanner and saw the rest of that party drop into the garden, then in the next instant three blips nearest Teyla and the hunters just winked out. I heard Shadow chuff softly in approval as another one disappeared from the scanner. Apparently unnoticed by the other First Ones, too. Okay, this is looking better. "How bright a light?" I asked him.

"Very bright," Shadow replied.

"Okay, people, get ready to drop your goggles. Ronon – keep your men down. Teyla – keep your head down, too. Shadow is going to turn on the lights." I pulled my goggles down around my neck and turned in the direction I knew Shadow was. "Do it." I focused on the detector in my hand and saw three blips were two rows away and closing fast.

The entire top of the Temple where the observation room sat lit up like the Luxor, and a beam of blue-white light shot up into the low lying clouds. It cast the village in the light of three very bright full moons, and in the next instant I stood and very clearly saw the three First Ones I picked up just a moment before standing and staring up at the clouds. I could see others spread out behind them – their pale fur made them glow against the darker foliage and made them easy targets. I opened fire at that nearest trio. The first dropped instantly and the second actually turned its head towards me before it went down. I clipped the third before it ducked down behind the low bushes, and I felt Shadow charge away from me. Yeah, he'd take care of that one in no time. I crouched down and charged down the row, the life signs detector letting me know where the others were, and then cut diagonally through a few rows. I was making a hell of a racket, but I didn't care, because two more blips from Teyla's side winked out. That made six left. Hey, we might make it after all.

Two blips came together one row away, and I could tell the difference between Shadow's deep rumbling growl and the wounded First One's raspy one. Two more blips were also closing in on me pretty damn fast. I stood and saw a head and shoulders above the row of plants and fired. The burst took the top of its head clean off and the second one following it ducked and disappeared from sight. I saw Shadow not too far away and barely saw the movement of his arm as he swiped at his opponent and took its throat out in a spray of black blood.

Then I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and barely jerked away as I turned and aimed my P90. I felt the faintest kiss of pressure on my Adam's apple as I saw the First One finish the swing with his obsidian tipped spear and start to bring it around for another swipe. I fired directly into its ugly face.

Then there was a flash to my left in the pale blue light and I learned something very interesting about obsidian as I glanced that way – that shit is so sharp you see the blood flowing long before you feel the cut. The life signs detector fell from suddenly numb fingers as I backed up frantically and just avoided getting sliced again. The First One that stood in the same row of me was easily as big as Ronon and was wearing a leather mantle. The necklace of jawbones he wore clattered obscenely as he brought his spear around.

Then Shadow was on him.

He flew through the air and caught the First One's spear arm in his hands, landed, and twisted down and kind of _leaned_ to the left as he shoved with all his strength to the right. The spear was momentarily pinned between them and the sound of the mutant urtal's arm breaking and shoulder dislocating was very loud over the steady pounding of the rain. It screamed and Shadow backed up a step.

He was between me and the First One so there was no way I could get a clear shot to finish it off. Then I saw a flash of pale fur, and its free hand came up, a knife in its malformed hand. Shadow jerked back and the arterial spray from his neck hit the First One in the face, then I saw him slap a hand to his neck, take two staggering steps to the side, and crumple.

I pulled the trigger and held it down for all it was worth, but my P90 betrayed me by spitting out maybe a half a dozen rounds before the clip emptied. "Oh, fuck," I said as I saw the First One just rock back a few steps. I caught it in the chest, but apparently the thing was tougher than it looked because all it did was drop its knife and shake itself. I dropped my P90 because I knew there was no way in hell I could reload with a numb left hand and drew my sidearm. It had kicked its spear up from the ground in that brief instant, and he lunged just as I fired. I tried to roll away from the blow, let the ceramic guts of the tac vest deflect the obsidian blade, but that damn thing hung up and I felt it slide between plates _and_ ribs before it snapped. I spun and went down, and when I landed on my wounded arm I know I screamed.

So did the First One. Its lunge carried it into one of the low thick bushes, and it kind of hung up there for a moment. Then it reared back out of it, and when it faced me I saw my shots had clipped its neck and face, and blood was flowing steadily from its ruined cheek and throat. But the sonuvabitch was _still_ breathing and obviously very pissed, and it lifted its broken spear.

I raised my gun and froze as Shadow just popped up behind the First One, landed squarely on its back, reached over its head to grab a long saber tooth in each hand, and _yanked _backwards with all his strength. Its neck snapped and Shadow damn near ripped its head clean off from the jaws up.

_Okay, that was gross_, I thought as my arm dropped because I simply no longer had the strength. The First One fell forward and Shadow rolled off its back and came to a rest near my legs. "Hey, kid, you all right?" I rasped out. Oh, man – I sounded like I was ninety-years-old. When he didn't answer I tried to sit up. Big mistake. The world swam with black anti-sparklies and I felt the broken point grind against a rib. I flopped back down. "Speak, God damnit," I growled.

"I … am alive," Shadow finally said. Jesus, he sounded a hundred. "Stopped … bleeding."

I felt his hand fall on my shin and try to squeeze. About all I could really feel were the tips of his claws. Then I heard Teyla in my ear.

"Colonel, where are you?"

"Over here," I croaked out. It was getting difficult to breathe.

"Where? Morales, where is he?"

Oh, that's right. I'm on the ground – she can't _see_ me. The evil black anti-sparklies were crowding my vision again as I planted my right elbow on the ground, lifted my nine-mil, and fired straight up. I waited a second, and fired again. And that was all I could do before my arm plopped down again.

"I'm on my way, Colonel," Teyla said. A few seconds later her face filled the little tunnel of vision I had left before it went completely dark as the Temple's beacon shut down. I heard her call for the Jumper before it got even darker.


	10. X: Wrap Up

_A/N: Ya know, when I started out writing this thing I did NOT expect a gorram novel. And there were still a few things I never did get to add, couldn't find a place for. Oh well, just have to save them for another time. When, I don't know ... :)_

**X: Wrap Up**

I tried to stay asleep, I really did, but the sound of somebody's heart monitor going absolutely batshit crazy finally destroyed all my efforts to remain oblivious. I didn't open my eyes right away because I had one of those all-through-the-head-thud-in-time-to-your-pulse headaches that come from either anesthesia or massive blood loss, and I just _knew_ the lights were going to make it worse. So I just laid there a moment and took stock of the various complaints my body was phoning in. My left arm felt oddly heavy and cold, and every breath brought a pull from my right side that meant I more than likely had a tube hanging out of me. Great. Collapsed lung, I bet. And I ached all over but didn't really care. Cool, Carson had me on the good stuff.

I rolled my head towards the obnoxious beeping, cracked open my eyes, and had my second out-of-body experience of the week. It actually took me a moment to realize it was Shadow in the bed next to me. The kid's neck was a mass of white bandages, and his skin was so pale under his tan, it made his tan look like a fake bake job. His chest rose and fell rapidly under his hospital gown and thin blanket.

That was when a real shadow loomed over me. I turned my head back and found Ronon grinning down at me. "Yep, his eyes are open," he rumbled and glanced back across the aisle.

"Wonderful!" Teyla said from the bedside of the little guy with the broken leg. She said something to him then got up and came over.

"Hey," I said. At least that's what my brain told me I did. What actually came out sounded like a door that hadn't been opened in, oh, a century. I made the mistake of trying to swallow, and that just made me cough, and … _oh fuck_. I kind of lost track of things for a moment, then somebody saved me by spooning some ice chips in my mouth once things calmed down. I squinted up at Carson. "Thanks, doc," I croaked out, and hey – it was intelligible.

Carson smiled and fed me a couple more spoonfuls. Then he sat the cup aside and I'm pretty sure I whimpered. "In a moment," he said. "How are you feeling, besides 'like crap'?"

I offered a weak, lopsided grin. "Took the words out of my mouth. And the ice. Could I …?" I twitched my eyebrows towards the cup that sat there just out of reach, mocking me.

Carson grunted as he checked my side. "Well, I can honestly say I set a new personal record for stitches with you two." He adjusted something and I heard a faint hiss. Wasn't sure if that came from me or whatever he just did.

"How is he?" I asked with a faint twitch of my chin in Shadow's direction.

"He'll be fine. He damn near bled out." Then Carson sighed and shook his head. "He _should_ have bled out. His left jugular and carotid were _sliced_, but he stopped the bleeding. The vessels looked fused when he was brought in, but the tissue around them was still open. Took a lot of fancy stitching to close him up."

"Wow," was all I managed.

"I've had to keep him heavily sedated – twice he started to change in his sleep and ripped sutures out. It was a bloidy mess, literally." Then he frowned down at me. "And you, Colonel, are lucky your arm is still attached – it was sliced nearly to the bone." Then Carson did something that told me it was a lot worse than he let on – he pursed his lips and his eyebrows crooked up briefly. I wonder if he knew how easily we could read him. Any moment now he'll be saying …. "We'll talk later, when you're up to it." Yup, it's bad.

I glanced to the foot of the bed at Teyla and Ronon. They could keep poker faces a whole helluva lot better – I couldn't tell anything from them at the moment. Shit. "How's Lorne?" I asked.

"You can ask him yuirself," Carson said and grinned. He nodded to my left.

I rolled my head that way and saw Lorne in the next bed. His head was still swathed in bandages and he offered me the faintest of nods. "So, Major, how are _you_ feeling?"

"Got one helluva headache, sir," he said carefully, like every syllable was about to split his head open. "And I'm still seeing double."

I squinted at him. "Funny," I croaked out. I cleared my throat, grimaced, and Carson was there with the ice chips again. About damned time. I was already getting tired and my head was really thudding so I decided to close my eyes for a moment. Then that damn hyperactive heart monitor started to get on my nerves again, and when I opened my eyes everyone was gone and the lights were dimmed. Huh. I glanced at Shadow and saw Nurse Carrie injecting something into his i.v.. Then she adjusted his blanket, ran a hand across his cheek, and turned to face me. When she saw I was awake she gave me the _sweetest_ smile. After she checked my i.v. she brought me more ice chips, and when she left I had a feeling I wouldn't be experiencing anymore unscheduled shaves from her any more. I tried to go back to sleep, but all I could hear was that rapid _beep-beep-beep-beep-beep_. "Damn it, can't somebody turn that thing down?" I croaked out.

"Eh, you get used to it after awhile," Lorne said from my left. I rolled my head that way. "Kind of has a disco beat, though," he said and I could see a faint frown. "And that can be bad."

I snorted and my head throbbed. I tried not to think of a song that would go to that tempo, because I knew damn well I'd sit there and obsess about it. I was just starting to nod off again when I heard Lorne muttering. I looked back at him and saw his head bobbing slightly in time to the monitor, and a second later I heard him sing under his breath, "Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive. Stayin' – oh, God damnit!" That made me laugh, which in turn made me cough, and that was pretty much it for awhile.

The next time I opened my eyes Rodney was sitting next to my bed. He was focused on his tablet, of course, and didn't notice I was awake. "Oh, fuck," I groaned and his head whipped up. "I've died and gone to hell."

"Oh, har har har – give anyone morphine and they think they're a comedian," Rodney said with a crooked grimace. But his eyes were dancing.

"I thought it was funny," Lorne said quietly.

Rodney glared his way. "Well, that just proves Carson was wrong and you really do have brain damage."

"Ouch," I said. Not because of the comeback, but because chuckling hurt.

Rodney instantly got worried. "Do I need to get Carson? Have him take you off the drip and set up a panic button?"

"I'm fine, Rodney," I said and waved my right hand.

"Are you sure? Because Carson is right over there," he said and pointed over his shoulder.

"Yeah." I rolled my head to the right and saw an empty bed. Then it dawned on me I wasn't hearing that annoying _beep-beep-beep-beep_. I must have looked panicked because Rodney instantly started babbling.

"Shadow's okay – Dr. Vandenheiden just has him over in neuro doing some brain scans." At my continued gawping, he said, "Nothing's wrong. He's fine – really. We think we found out why he has a direct link with the Temple." Rodney's hand came up and fluttered by his temple. "We fine tuned one of the scanners and found about twenty of the leads from the download process had broken off in his brain. Makes sense, considering the equipment hadn't been used in over fifteen hundred years. There's bound to be failures." He flinched at my expression. "They're not causing any damage – the things are the diameter of spider silk, but they are acting like …."

"An antenna?" I said.

"Exactly!"

"Huh." And that was about the extent of my end of the conversation because the panic attack from thinking Shadow was dead left me wiped. So I just listened to Rodney babble and nodded every once in awhile until they wheeled Shadow back. As they locked the wheels on his wheelchair, I saw his skin had actual color against the scrubs he now wore. He saw me looking at him and he just raised his chin and eyebrows briefly as he settled back against the pillows. I did the same thing back.

"Okay, that is just – disturbing," Rodney said.

"I hear yae," Carson said. He patted Shadow on the leg. "Let's see about getting you some dinner, lad."

Dinner? Whoa, I lost a day. More than a day. "What about me?" I asked and cringed at how utterly pathetic I sounded.

Carson nodded my way. "Aye, we could start you on some broth. Don't sneer at me – anything is better than that blue crap," he said and nodded toward my i.v. stand. I glanced up and noticed the feeding tube for the first time. No wonder why the back of my nose and throat were sore.

"I'll need protein," Shadow said, his voice hardly more than a whisper. His hand went to his throat, and Carson immediately caught it and sat it back on the bed.

"Don't pick," Carson said, patted his hand, and left.

"I, ah, need to run," Rodney said after a quick glance at his watch. "I need to go over the newest scans with Dr. Vandenheiden. I'll swing by later," he said as he backed up, waved sheepishly, and was gone.

Let's see, it's close to dinner time and he lit out of here like his ass was on fire. Yup, must be serving Spam stew tonight. I chuckled and instantly regretted it. I caught a worried frown from Shadow. "I'm fine," I croaked out.

Shadow tried to chuff, and his face screwed up briefly in pain. "How is your arm?" he asked in raspy whisper.

Yeah, the arm. I was getting worried – I had made several attempts to lift it the few times I was awake, and just couldn't. And I could barely feel my fingers. I could move them, kind of, but I just couldn't _feel_ them. "It hurts," I said. I glanced his way and could tell from his expression that he knew I was lying through my not so pointy teeth. He just lifted his eyebrows at me and was about to say something when we were distracted by Nurse Carrie stopping by with some honest to God ice water. I think we were both about ready to propose, and she blushed crimson at our expressions.

oOo

I lurched awake to the worst pins-and-needles sensation I had ever experienced in my entire life. My left arm was screaming, and when I opened my eyes the first thing I saw was Shadow standing next to my bed, his head down and his eyes closed. He had one hand wrapped around the bandage on my upper arm, the other around my wrist, and in the dim light I could see sweat rolling down his face and dripping off his chin. My fingers started twitching spasmodically and the tingling sensation backed off, but man, they hurt like a mother. A moment later he let go and opened his eyes. He wiped his face with the hem of his scrub top and gave me a tired, lopsided grin.

"Hey, now – what are ye doing out of bed?" Carson said quietly as he stormed up to us in a flurry of white lab coat and stubble. Then he saw me holding up my left hand and wiggling my fingers. He froze, and his head swiveled toward Shadow. His mouth opened and it took a moment for the words to come out. "I thought you couldn't heal others yet."

"I can't," Shadow replied a bit sheepishly and ducked his head. "But I can heal myself," he added. Then he looked at me and shrugged. "And we aren't all _that_ different …."

Carson made Shadow go stand on the other side of the bed while he dug a pair of scissors out of the stand between my and Lorne's bed. He started slicing away dressings, and when my upper arm was finally exposed he let out a quiet, "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." I glanced down and felt sweat break out all over and I got really, really cold. Carson took one look at me and grabbed the small garbage pail that sat on the floor. I managed to keep what little dinner I ate down, but it was a near thing.

Sliced to the bone, my ass – the First One nearly took my arm clean _off_.

For the next few minutes Carson kept asking me _can you feel this, can you do this,_ while I just nodded and laid there and shook. My arm protested with every twitch and movement, and I was fully aware of how good a thing that was. Shadow stood on my right the whole time, a faintly smug and very cat-like smile on his face.

oOo

I was sitting in a budget meeting and trying really hard to pay attention. My left hand was tingling from sitting with my arms crossed for so long, so I just let that arm dangle and shook out my hand. It had been four weeks since the showdown with the First Ones, and my arm still had a tendency to fall asleep if I held it wrong or slept in certain positions. But it was functional, and that was a fucking miracle in itself. I had this new thin scar that started practically in my armpit in the front, wrapped completely around to my back, and actually went a few inches onto the muscles there. And it looked years old as opposed to weeks. Shadow left Atlantis the day after he healed my arm and the spear wound that had punctured and collapsed my right lung. He was pretty much healed himself and was concerned for his people since there were a dozen First Ones still running around loose. Rodney reported that they had left the scanner's range by the following morning, but Shadow didn't want to take any chances.

And I _knew_ he was just raring to go hunt them down and get rid of them once and for all. Hell, Carson figured that bit out, too, and tried everything he could to get him to stay, but the kid was stubborn – gee, wonder where he got that from? – and absolutely nothing short of total incapacitation was going to keep him here. There were still some Marines there keeping an eye on things, but I could understand his concern. When I was released from the infirmary a week later I made a special trip to retrieve my boys and leave Shadow an IDC and a radio just in case he needed to get a hold of us. Elizabeth still hadn't been able to sit with him and discuss a trade for fresh produce and meat, and Shadow promised to return as soon as he had his little pest problem taken care of. And that was exactly how he worded it – _pest problem_. He's been working with plants too much, if you ask me.

My hand finally quit buzzing and I just leaned back in my chair and laced my hands over my stomach. I heard a snort and looked across the table at Col. Caldwell. The Daedelus was down for some routine maintenance of its sublight engines and he had decided to attend the meeting to go over the next supply run requests. That he willingly asked to sit in on the meeting lent more precedence to my theory that he had a sweet spot for Elizabeth. "Are we boring you, Colonel?" he asked with a bit of a sneer. Man, that just rankled his ass every time he had to call me that. Even after this long.

I gave him a little squinty smirk and was about to snark something back when the sound of the 'gate dialing in came through the open conference room doors. I was on my feet and heading out of the room before Chuck even said, "Unscheduled off-world activation." I almost tripped over Zelenka's legs from where he was lying under a console and doing some routine maintenance. Rodney and Elizabeth joined me a moment later – yeah, they hated those damn meetings as much as I did – and all three of us grunted in surprise when Chuck said, "I'm picking up Shadow's IDC."

"Lower the shield and tell him he can come through," Elizabeth said. We all moved to the railing, and I had to admit, my pulse had shot up a few beats.

Caldwell joined us. "Wait, is this the Shadow that's your clone?" he asked. I glanced at him and judging from his smirk he knew damn well which Shadow it was. "As in the one that runs around naked?"

"Not entirely naked," Rodney said with a little head waggle. "But close enough for all intents and purposes."

_Oh, great_. "You're not going to start that crap again, are you?" I said through my teeth as the party in question stepped through the 'gate. And yup, he wasn't wearing much, as usual. I heard Caldwell choke back a laugh and just ignored him.

Shadow stopped about halfway across the floor and looked up at us and grinned. He had a huge leather wrapped bundle under his right arm, and draped over his left shoulder was the strap to a basket the size of a backpack. He had his belt over a black loin cloth that had some designs embroidered in crimson near its hem. Looked pretty snazzy – must be his new 'formal' one. I waved him towards the stairs. He nodded and took them two at a time. When we met him at the top I saw he was sporting several new scars himself. There were four across his chest and several on his arms, and a little one across the bridge of his nose. There was a bit of a gap now in his right eyebrow, too, and a sizeable nick in the rim of his left ear. But the one that had me staring was the one on his neck – it was thick and white against his tan skin and ran from just above his Adam's apple to just below his ear. Man, that was nasty.

I cleared my throat. "So, kid – what brings you to our neck of the woods?"

"My pest problem has been eliminated," Shadow replied with just a hint of a smug smile. "And since we will be harvesting our first crops after the rainy season in a few weeks, I felt it was time to discuss trade." He turned his head toward Elizabeth as he spoke and offered her a faint bow.

"Wonderful!" Elizabeth said and I saw her ears grow a tiny bit pink. Caldwell's smirk faltered for a moment and I grinned briefly. Yup, he's _so_ sweet on her. "Shall we go to the conference room?" Elizabeth said.

As we all headed that way I saw Rodney stop by Zelenka, who was now standing, and whisper something in his ear. Zelenka let out a short laugh, nodded vigorously, and went over to a control panel and started doing … something. Rodney saw me frowning at him and just rocked back on his heels, did that little finger-snappy thing, and smirked crookedly. Oh, hell, that made me nervous.

We all piled into the conference room and Shadow set the bundle on the table before he swiveled the pack off his shoulder and set that on the floor. "Whatcha got there?" I asked. I had a feeling I knew what the bundle was.

Shadow patted said bundle. "This is for you. Kintu and the others felt you deserved it."

I couldn't resist – I ran my hand across the suede soft leather before I untied the thongs that held the bundle together. With a quick snap I spread the urtal hide across the table. It covered it completely, and the spotted fur looked flawless. "Thanks," I said. "This is awesome."

Elizabeth even stepped over and buried her hands in the thick, soft fur. "Oh, my," she breathed. I saw Caldwell swallow and wanted to deck him.

Rodney was even looking impressed. "Holy crap! That's the thing you two killed in the middle of the night?" He glanced between us and received twin smug nods. "Holy crap!"

"Holy crap, indeed," Carson said a little breathlessly from the doorway. He must have ran from the infirmary judging how red his face was. Damn, I forgot how fast word travelled around here. "And I still say you were both bloidy idiots." He came all the way in and I could see Zelenka just standing outside. He made an okay sign and I turned around just in time to see Rodney give a thumbs-up in reply. Then he saw me and tried to go all innocent. "Oh, dear lord," Carson said as he, too, petted the fur. "That thing is enormous."

"Ah, doctor, I am glad you are here," Shadow said with a big smile. He pulled the top off the basket and pulled a quart-sized metal cylinder from inside. "This is for you."

Carson took it and beamed. As he unscrewed the cap I asked, "What is that?"

"Zaxutl gum," Carson replied as the smell of birthday cake filled the air. "I'm thinkin' of stocking the emergency kits with it. It travels easier than morphine, and works just as well. Och, that's quite a lot." He screwed the cap back on. "Thanks, lad."

"You are welcome," Shadow replied. "And I have plenty more, whenever you need it."

Carson grinned and tucked the canister under his arm.

"I have other gifts as well," Shadow said. He rubbed his arms briefly before he was back digging in the basket. Yeah, it was getting cooler in the conference room. I glanced at Rodney and he pretended not to notice. "The villagers wanted to thank you and your warriors for protecting them from the First Ones. The artisans and knappers made one of these for each of you, including the one who fell." Harper was my only casualty – the kid took a sling stone right between the eyes and was dead instantly. "For his family," Shadow continued as he unwrapped a bone handled knife in a leather sheath. He pulled it, and the finely worked obsidian blade glittered in the lights of the conference room. The bone handle was carved with delicate patterns that resembled the tattoos I'd seen on the hunters. Yeah, Harper had a brother back home who was an avid hunter – I think he'll appreciate it.

"Thanks, I'll see they get them," I said as he re-wrapped the knife.

"Um, you know – Zelenka and I both helped that night, too," Rodney said. "Granted we didn't actually shoot anything, but …."

Shadow chuffed. "Yes, I believe there are ones for you, too," he said with a sigh. "And I have gifts for everyone who had visited, as well." He rubbed his arms again and just kept them crossed this time.

Caldwell was standing next to Shadow and smirking again. And he was not bothering to hide it. He saw me frowning at him and that just made it all the more amusing to him.

Shadow didn't seem to notice as he looked past Caldwell to Elizabeth. "Dr. Weir, I am getting cold. Do you mind if I change?"

"Not at all, Shadow," Elizabeth replied. Then she frowned faintly. "It does seem rather … cool in here today."

When I heard Rodney snort I figured out what was up. I saw Caldwell snort, too. I bet he thought Shadow was referring to _clothes_, so when the kid _shifted_ less than two feet from him into his intermediate form I was so wishing I had a camera. No, wait – Rodney was probably having his partner in crime, Zelenka, recording it. Anyhow, Caldwell's reaction was priceless. His face froze, his eyes got wide, and he flinched backwards so violently he damn near knocked Elizabeth over.

Then he blurted out, "What the fuck?"


	11. Bonus!

There is now a link on my bio page to a drawing I recently did of Shadow.

My artistic muse spoke to me, and it shocked the crap out of me.

Enjoy, and no licking your computer screen. It's … ooky.


End file.
